Taliban

WASHINGTON - -The CIA is deploying teams of spies, analysts and paramilitary operatives to Afghanistan, part of a broad intelligence "surge" that will make its station there among the largest in the agency's history, U.S. officials say. When complete, the CIA's presence in the country is expected to rival the size of its huge stations in Iraq and Vietnam at the height of those wars. Precise numbers are classified, but one U.S. official said the agency already has nearly 700 employees in Afghanistan.

The British documentary "Afghan Star" boldly handles a rich, involving subject - the emergence of an "American Idol"-like TV show in post-Taliban Afghanistan. The film's essential fascination and integrity swamp any qualms about its pacing or all-around moviemaking. Most Americans are aware of religious subcultures that ban dancing. The Taliban banned music itself. Playing instruments and singing have become inspirational releases in a land still starving for liberty and beauty. Just as Western rock helped bring down the Iron Curtain, "Afghan Star" suggests that Eastern pop will break up Afghanistan's ethnic and sexual divisions and traditions of patriarchal tyranny.

It's been eight years since Sept. 11, 2001, and we are still at war in Afghanistan and still have not captured Osama bin Laden or Mullah Mohammed Omar. Reconstruction on the site of the World Trade Center has only just begun. We still have not figured out how to handle combatants in the global war on terror in a way that is fully consistent with our values. We are not close to declaring victory, and sometimes it seems that we may never be. But on this anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon and in the skies over Pennsylvania, it's important to recall why we are fighting and what is at stake.

August has been the deadliest month for U.S. troops in the eight-year war in Afghanistan, and as the security situation continues to deteriorate amid charges of widespread fraud in last week's national elections there, the outcome of the conflict seems as uncertain as ever. Friday, a roadside bomb that killed a soldier brought to 45 the number of U.S. troops who have died in Afghanistan this month, surpassing the previous record of 44 in July. Presently there are approximately 60,000 U.S. troops in the country, with 29,000 more expected to arrive by the end of the year.

On a recent trip to Kabul for our nonprofit organization, Jobs for Afghans, we made a startling discovery: There is no true Taliban insurgency. Yes, there is a Taliban leadership, many of whom are "foreigners," meaning, non-Afghans. Yes, there are many fighting-age men who fight because they are paid to do so, by the small cadre of Taliban and Al Qaeda commanders who have plenty of opium money. They fork out the excellent wage in these parts of $8 per day for "insurgent work." But a die-hard, dedicated army of fighters who pledge allegiance to the Taliban ideology and cause?

As it rumbled down a steep hill at the Aberdeen Test Center, the huge armored troop carrier hit a bump and briefly caught air. Thanks to a modified suspension, the 22-ton truck did not land with a bone-jarring clatter. Instead, its knobby front tires seemed to glide back to the dirt road. "That speed would almost definitely bend the axles on the original suspension," automotive engineer Adam Vittum shouted over the engine noise. "We would all be in a lot of pain and very possibly have broken something on the vehicle."

KABUL, Afghanistan - -A powerful truck bomb on Thursday killed at least 25 people, more than half of them children, in an eastern province near Kabul. Authorities speculated that the explosives-laden vehicle was intended for an attack in the capital. Three American soldiers were killed by roadside bombs, the U.S. military said, two in southern Afghanistan and one in the east. The incidents followed a pattern of escalating violence in widely scattered areas of Afghanistan. The truck blast took place in Lowgar province.

Car bomb kills at least 27 in crowded Iraq market BAGHDAD - A car bomb exploded in a crowded outdoor market in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people, police said, a deadly reminder of the challenges facing the Iraqi government even as it celebrated the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from cities. The bombing marred what had otherwise been a festive day as Iraqis commemorated the newly declared National Sovereignty Day. It also came hours after four U.S. soldiers were killed in combat Monday in Baghdad.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - - Pakistan announced Sunday that it planned to expand its offensive against Taliban militants into the troubled South Waziristan region. The announcement came just hours after a bomb in a crowded market in the area killed eight people and wounded 38. The deadly bombing was the latest in a series of attacks believed to be in retaliation for the Pakistani army's ongoing offensive against strongholds of the Islamic militant group. Owais Ghani, North-West Frontier Province governor, announced Sunday that the army would extend its fight against militants to the portion of Waziristan abutting the border with Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - -President Barack Obama's pick to lead U.S. forces inAfghanistan warned Tuesday that casualties are likely to increase as the U.S. military steps up its campaign against insurgents in the beleaguered country. Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal also voiced skepticism that Taliban guerrillas could be persuaded to sever their ties with al-Qaeda, calling into question a divide-the-enemy strategy that had been critical to his success as commander of special operations forces in Iraq. "I don't think that the Taliban have any reason right now to turn their back on al-Qaeda," McChrystal told the Senate Armed Services Committee, his first public remarks since being selected last month to lead a revised U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.