Afghanistan War News Updates -- July 21, 2011

U.S. Army soldiers hike down a hillside to visit a high school while on a patrol in the Alingar district of Afghanistan's Laghman province, July 13, 2011. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane

U.S. Has Lost Sight Of Cash From $70 Billion Sent To Afghanistan: Inspector General -- Stars And Stripes

WASHINGTON – It may come as little surprise that the U.S. cannot track all of the cash it has infused into Afghanistan after nearly 10 years of war and $70 billion in security and development projects. But a blistering audit released Wednesday found that untold amounts of American taxpayer dollars are vulnerable to winding up in the pockets of insurgents, and blames both countries for a dysfunctional tracking system.

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More News On Afghanistan

Report: U.S. funds in Afghanistan could go to insurgents -- CNN
Afghan funds risk ‘diversion to insurgency’ -- Financial Times
Audit Highlights Afghan Aid Woes -- Wall Street Journal
US aid may be flowing to Afghan insurgents: audit -- AFP
US cash 'bankrolling Afghan graft' -- The Australian/AFP
Watchdog Says U.S. Aid Money in Afghanistan May Be Fueling Insurgency -- National Journal

Afghan-led Patrol Kills Haqqani Insurgents -- US Department of Defense
3 Pa. national guardsmen killed in Afghan blast -- Philly.com
Report: 3 Pa. guardsmen killed in Afghanistan -- Army Times
Local soldiers react to losing 3 National Guard members -- CBS News
Two Britons suspected of planning attack on British troops arrested in Afghanistan -- Daily Mail
UK citizens arrested in Afghanistan -- Financial Times
British 'Taliban fighters' arrested in Afghanistan terror raid -- The Telegraph
Afghanistan War ‘Fragile’ but Doable, General Says -- New York Times
Petraeus warns of deteriorating US-Pakistan relations -- AFP

In southern Afghanistan, a modest transition -- Washington Post
Afghan Forces Take Security Control Despite Deadly Attacks -- Voice of America
Lashkar Gah: Nato hands over volatile Afghan city -- BBC

France honors 7 soldiers killed in Afghanistan as drawdown looms -- Washington Post
Exclusive: Inside Darpa’s Secret Afghan Spy Machine -- Danger Room
U.S. welcomes decision to remove former Taliban from sanctions list -- CNN
Drug trade menaces Afghanistan despite progress: U.S. -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Huge poppy seed cache confiscated in Afghanistan -- CNN
Is Afghanistan safer, or isn't it? The UN and Petraeus appear to disagree. -- Dan Murphy, Christian Science Monitor
Blown to Hell in Afghanistan: The Comic Book -- David Axe, The Danger Room
US military deaths in Afghanistan at 1,560 -- Yahoo News/AP