U.S. Army Sgt. Robert Streeter scans a nearby hilltop during a search of the Qual-e Jala village, Parwan province, Afghanistan, Feb. 21, 2011. Streeter is assigned to the 34th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, Task Force Redhorse. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Ashlee Lolkus How The Taliban Lost Its Swagger -- Newsweek
Disgusted by the insurgency’s relentless brutality, more than 1,000 fighters have walked away in recent months.
Taliban fighters surrender.
At a dark, unheated village Madrassa near Peshawar, Pakistan, Mullah Yahya spends his days studying the Quran and begging God’s forgiveness for the horrors in which he once took part. Until a few months ago, he belonged to a Taliban unit operating in and around the Afghan town of Marja, led by a commander whose ruthlessness had earned him the nickname “Saddam.” But late last summer, Yahya finally quit the Taliban, together with a dozen other fighters and even Saddam himself. The commander and some of his men joined a U.S.-backed militia in the Marja area—where Saddam was killed by a Taliban IED just a few weeks ago. Yahya and others abandoned the war altogether. “I’d like to delete my past from my memory,” says the black-bearded 28-year-old, huddled in two coats against the madrassa’s indoor chill, to a visiting NEWSWEEK reporter. “I’m worried about how Allah will treat me for what I have done.”
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More News On Afghanistan
NATO: 4 service members killed in Afghanistan -- Yahoo News/AP
NATO: 3 service members killed in Afghanistan -- Navy Times
US forces to target Taliban returning to Kandahar -- DAWN
Enemy’s Nightmare Coming True in Afghanistan -- U.S. Department of Defense
Insurgents Execute Two Afghan Civilian Contractors in Kandahar -- War On Terror News
Houston's 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment has begun the long journey to Afghanistan -- Marines.mil
New militia brings security, and worries, to Marjah, Afghanistan -- McClatchy News
Tribal peace deal in Afghanistan on shaky ground -- Asian Correspondent
Life after Taliban 'rule of gun' in Takhar -- BBC
Karzai condemns NATO airstrike that reportedly killed 9 Afghan children -- Washington Post
Petraeus apologizes after international forces kill 9 Afghan civilians -- CNN
NATO Commander In Afghanistan Apologizes Over Children's Killings -- RTT News
Gathering Firewood, 9 Afghan Boys Killed by NATO Helicopters -- New York Times
Gen. David Petraeus apologizes for deaths of 9 Afghan children -- L.A. Times
NATO accepts responsibility for killing 9 Afghan children, Afghan president condemns -- Xinhuanet
UK parliamentary committee urges U.S.-Taliban talks -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Afghanistan campaign needs political follow-up, say MPs -- BBC
Report urges rethink of US aid in Afghanistan: less money, narrower focus, clearer objectives -- Canadian Press
Ex-Pentagon adviser says US should cut Afghan aid -- Washington Post
An Aid Worker Writes: How ‘Sustainability’ Works (or Doesn’t) in Afghanistan -- At War/New York Times
In Afghanistan, the War on Jirds Is Actually Going Pretty Well -- Wall Street Journal
High-tech device helps U.S. troops pinpoint snipers -- USA Today
Security contractors accused of killing civilians go on trial -- CNN
Will Afghanistan's Buddhas, Blown Up by the Taliban, Be Restored? -- Art Info
Will destroyed Buddha statue be reconstructed? -- CNN
Scientist hopes to fix giant Afghan Buddha -- ABC News (Australia)
Five years in Afghanistan -- BBC
Afghanistan and the arithmetic of austerity -- Amy Goodman, The Guardian
Victory in Afghanistan a noble, unattainable goal -- John Kastner, QMI Agency
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