War in Afghanistan (2001-present)
General from Baltimore County heads up Trump's new Afghanistan war effort
Call it a Smalltimore moment. When Army Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr. met Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger at a spartan military post in Afghanistan last year, they ran through the list: Ravens, Orioles and people they knew in common.
“We just talked local for a while,” Ruppersberger said.
Then they turned to business. Ruppersberger was there to be briefed by Nicholson, a 1975 Gilman School graduate who grew up in the Towson area and is now the top NATO and U.S. military officer in Afghanistan. It’s a role he’s held since early last year, but it took on new prominence this week as President Donald Trump outlined his plans to revamp the nation’s strategy there and...
Related "War in Afghanistan (2001-present)" Articles
General from Baltimore County heads up Trump's new Afghanistan war effort
Call it a Smalltimore moment. When Army Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr. met Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger at a spartan military post in Afghanistan last year, they ran through the list: Ravens, Orioles and people they knew in common.
“We just talked local...
U.S. should extricate, not escalate, Afghanistan presence
America's longest war isn't getting any younger. With its 15-year anniversary five months behind us, there's no telling when the Afghanistan war might end. But if our time there has taught us anything, it's that sending thousands more American troops into...
Elite Md. National Guard unit teams up with NATO commandos
Special operations leaders with the Maryland Army National Guard are taking on a new mission: Helping to train and lead NATO commandos.
The 40 soldiers of the Towson-based Special Operations Detachment were assigned to work with NATO last year. The...
The lesson of Afghanistan
President Barack Obama was plainly bowing to the inevitable last October when he shelved plans to bring home all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by end of this year. It was clear that the war there wasn't going well and that the Afghan Army the U.S. had...
Iraq war remains politically fateful, 12 years on
A dozen years after the invasion of Iraq, it continues to cast a shadow over the 2016 presidential campaigns in both major parties. Republican and Democratic candidates alike who took opposing positions on it in 2003 can anticipate partisan demands that...
'Endless war' is not the answer in Afghanistan
I agree with the general thrust of your editorial on the war in Afghanistan ("The endless war," Oct. 15).I and others in Baltimore protested the Bush administration's invasion of Afghanistan, calling instead for diplomacy. Of course our pleas were...
The endless war
President Barack Obama was finally forced to bow to the inevitable today when he announced a halt to the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and revised plans that will keep some 5,500 U.S. troops in the country even after his term ends in early...
The endless war
President Barack Obama was finally forced to bow to the inevitable today when he announced a halt to the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and revised plans that will keep some 5,500 U.S. troops in the country even after his term ends in early...
What's possible for Afghanistan?
The unintentional U.S. airstrike on a hospital in Afghanistan over the weekend was a terrible tragedy that highlighted the problems facing the American commanders attempting to support local Afghan government troops against a growing Taliban insurgency....
Hero or traitor?
In every war there are inevitably soldiers who are captured, kidnapped or otherwise taken prisoner by the enemy. Some become POWs due to circumstances beyond their control while others behave in ways that, for whatever reason, seem to deliberately...
Obama bids good riddance to a dismal political year
Despite a late-year appearance of hopeful economic indicators and an 11th-hour boost in his Gallup Poll approval, 2014 bowed out as a distinct disappointment for President Barack Obama as he faces the last two lame-duck years in his presidency.
The...
Critics attack soldier swap
The release of America's only prisoner of war in Afghanistan in a trade for five senior Taliban commanders from U.S. custody took only minutes Saturday. But it followed 31/2 years of secret on-and-off negotiations that produced far less than the White...
Taliban documentary shows value of Al Jazeera America
Six months in, there is more to say about Al Jazeera America than that its ratings stink. But that's about the only thing I see written about the Qatar-owned cable channel these days.
The ratings are minuscule — about one-half the audience that Al Gore's...
A more realistic president? [Commentary]
As President Obama embarks on his sixth year in the Oval Office, he does so with a greater reality of the political equation he faces, as clearly demonstrated the other night in his State of the Union address.
The freshman chief executive five years...
The Iraq War: Was it worth it? [Commentary]
In early 2003, I marched through downtown Washington, D.C., with my fellow University of Maryland students to protest the Bush Administration's push toward war with the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein.
The American people were being told that invading...
Enough of Karzai, the Afghanistan War
The Baltimore Sun's editorial "Pulling the plug on Karzai" (July 10) is certainly a gratifying statement addressing the role of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan! How much longer can this country, and specifically President Barack Obama, continue to...
Can Hagel reshape the Pentagon?
Chuck Hagel, the former Republican senator from Nebraska who survived a stormy confirmation hearing to become the new secretary of defense, had a coming-out party of sorts last week before the National Defense University, the government's graduate...
U.S. should speed Afghan pullout
From media accounts, the war in Afghanistan has hit a disturbing snag which was precipitated by President Hamid Karzai's recent remarks following the U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's visit, when he accused the Taliban terrorists and America of being...
Obama's State of the Union address as prepared for delivery [Text]
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, fellow citizens:
Fifty-one years ago, John F. Kennedy declared to this Chamber that “the Constitution makes us not rivals for power but partners for progress…It is my task,” he said, “to report the...
There's a connection between school shootings and America's culture of violence
There is a connection between the disheartening events of Baltimore County students bringing weapons to school and the violence we see overseas ("School safety promised," Sept. 12).We are the richest, most powerful nation in the world. We are also the...