Clinton trip comes amid debate on Afghanistan

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embarks Friday on a six-day trip to Europe and Russia that comes at a crucial time in the Obama administration’s decision-making on a strategy for Afghanistan. She will depart one day after the inaugural flight of the “lethal transit” agreement, signed in July by President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, which allows transport of military personnel and equipment across Russia to support the U.S.-NATO mission in Afghanistan

Share

McChrystal and Gates Raise Tension in Afghanistan Debate

Unlike the chattering classes, senior military officers didn’t raise an eyebrow when General Stanley McChrystal recently said he had only spoken once to President Obama since assuming command in Afghanistan. The military chain of command is there for a reason, and Obama seems to be sticking to it more faithfully than President George W

Share

Why the Pentagon Axed Its Afghanistan Warlord

Public beheadings in Afghanistan are usually associated with the Taliban, but on Monday it was Defense Secretary Robert Gates metaphorically wielding the ax from the Pentagon platform. Gates announced that he had asked for and received the resignation of his top commander in Afghanistan, Army General David McKiernan, after McKiernan spent only 11 months in that theater

Share

Report: North Korea open to talks

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has again indicated willingness to participate in bilateral talks with the United States and return to six-party talks over its nuclear program, China’s Xinhua news agency reported. The attitude shift by North Korea — which pulled out of talks in April to protest the United Nations’ condemnation over its nuclear test and missile launches — came amid Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s weekend visit to Pyongyang, Xinhua reported Monday.

Share

Warsaw Ghetto fighter Marek Edelman hailed

Leading figures from Poland to the United States have been paying tribute to Marek Edelman, the anti-Nazi resistance fighter and Solidarity movement supporter who died Friday. Edelman was one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, “the largest, symbolically most important Jewish uprising” against the Nazis during World War II, according to the U.S

Share