NEWS
March 20, 2012
It is being speculated that the American soldier who shot so many children and Afghan civilians recently probably suffered from battle fatigue and post traumatic stress disorder ("The killings in Kandahar," March 13). The Taliban has responded to these killings, as expected, in an opportunistic fashion, getting political mileage out of the tragic episode for itself and stirring up hatred against the Americans and nationalistic fervor across Afghanistan. Interestingly, the Taliban hit the right chord when it commented that an American trial declaring the perpetrator of the killings as a mad man, who acted under the duress of a mental breakdown, would only show the world that the U.S. is sending lunatics to Afghanistan.
NEWS
June 27, 2011
Nearly a decade after the American invasion of Afghanistan, there are still 250,000 foreign forces there — 100,000 U.S. troops, 50,000 NATO troops and 100,000 Pentagon-paid mercenaries. Unfortunately, in the president's speech Wednesday, he only talked about the U.S. military forces, and his plan is to continue the war until 2014. Regardless of this massive, long-term presence, the U.S. military will not reform Afghanistan. But it will spend billions of taxpayer dollars — and to what effect?
NEWS
March 6, 2012
First, a bunch of dimwits destroy our credibility with the Iraqi people in particular and the Islamic world in general by their actions at Abu Ghraib and now another group of idiots does the same in Afghanistan by burning the Quran ("Qurans burned, so have bridges," March 2). Didn't they get the memo that in asymmetrical warfare the idea is to win the hearts and minds of the indigenous people, not to antagonize them? I'm quite certain that the family and friends of the late Major Robert J. Marchant II wishes they had. Marc Raim, Baltimore
NEWS
By John Sarbanes | April 25, 2011
On March 25th, I returned with three other members of Congress from a six-day trip to Iraq and Afghanistan. I came away, as all do, tremendously impressed by the commitment of American soldiers and civilians to executing their mission. We were in Afghanistan at a watershed moment when the arrival of the "spring offensive" by the Taliban will test whether gains made by American troops over the winter can be sustained. The United States faces a monumental challenge in Afghanistan. Consider these sobering statistics: Afghanistan is the poorest nation in the world outside of Africa, is the second most corrupt nation after Somalia (according to Transparency International)
NEWS
By Steve Kilar, The Baltimore Sun | January 7, 2012
A 24-year-old airman from Westminster was killed when an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle in Afghanistan, the Defense Department said Saturday. Airman 1st Class Matthew R. Seidler died Thursday in the attack, which killed two other airmen. They were patrolling in Helmand, a southwestern province that remains a Taliban stronghold. "When he joined the Air Force, he blossomed. He became himself," said a cousin, Kalyn Masek, who last communicated with Seidler on Tuesday, his birthday.
NEWS
October 29, 2010
A 19-year-old Waldorf man died Wednesday in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said Friday. Terry E. Honeycutt Jr. suffered wounds during combat operations Oct. 21 in Helmand province in southwest Afghanistan. The lance corporal was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, N.C. A previous version of this article incorrectly stated when Terry E. Honeycutt Jr. died. The Sun regrets the error.