Security contractors charged in Afghanistan killings
WASHINGTON - Two men who worked as security contractors for the company formerly known as Blackwater have been charged with murder in the killings of two Afghan men, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
Christopher Drotleff and Justin Cannon each are charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in connection with the May shootings in Kabul. An indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Virginia also includes several weapons charges against the two men.
Both men were in Afghanistan working for a subsidiary of Xe, the controversial military contracting firm formerly known as Blackwater. FBI agents have arrested both men, the Justice Department announced.
Around the Web: Al Qaeda claims responsibility for CIA attack
Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in Afghanistan last month that killed seven CIA employees and contractors and a Jordanian military officer, according to a statement posted on Islamist Web sites.
Mustafa Abu Yazid, al Qaeda's commander of operations in Afghanistan and its No. 3 man, said the attack avenged the death of Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Taliban in Pakistan who was killed in a missile strike last August, and al Qaeda operatives Saleh al-Somali and Abdullah al-Libi.
A former U.S. intelligence official identified the suicide bomber as Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, a Jordanian doctor who acted as a double agent. He was recruited as a counterterrorism intelligence source, according to a senior Jordanian official.
CIA bombing suspect's family talks
The father of the Jordanian doctor accused of killing CIA officers talks with CNN's Nic Robertson, while the suspect's brother tells CNN that his sibling's actions were "out of character" and that the man was "under pressure."
The man's father said he was called by an Afghan speaking in broken Arabic from Afghanistan. The Afghan told him his son was dead and that he died as a hero in an operation to kill CIA agents.
Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in Afghanistan, according to a statement posted on Islamist Web sites.
Mustafa Abu Yazid, al Qaeda's commander of operations in Afghanistan and its No. 3 man, said the attack avenged the death of Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Taliban in Pakistan who was killed in a missile strike last August, and al Qaeda operatives Saleh al-Somali and Abdullah al-Libi.
In the wake of the suicide bombing last week, new security guidance has gone out to U.S. bases across Afghanistan, U.S. military officials said.
At least 9 slain in suicide blast
KABUL, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber in eastern Afghanistan killed at least nine people and wounded at least 27 others Thursday, a government official told CNN.
The incident occurred in Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, according to Rohullah Samon, the Paktia government spokesman. The strike occurred at 4:30 p.m. local time in front of the Kabul Bank building.
At this juncture in the investigation, authorities believe the attacker was wearing a suicide vest and was targeting private security contractors escorting foreign forces, Samon said. One of those slain was a police officer.
Explosion injures acting governor, 7 others
KABUL, Afghanistan - An explosion Thursday in southeast Afghanistan injured the acting governor of Khost province and several other officials, the Interior Ministry said.
The bomb - placed in a trash can near the wall of the governor's compound - slightly injured him and seven other officials, the ministry said in a statement.
The explosion occurred in the same province where seven CIA employees and contractors were killed December 30 on a U.S. base.
Journalist Matiullah Mati contributed to this report.
Past war offers Afghanistan lessons. And it's not Vietnam
The war ignited protests at home. American soldiers battled elusive fighters in remote jungles. The enemy used hit-and-run tactics to drain America’s will.
As President Obama begins to send more of the 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in the new year, some critics are invoking those snapshots from history to argue that the United States can’t afford to get bogged down in another Vietnam.
But those snapshots actually come from another war: The Philippine-American War, which lasted from 1899 to 1902. The war is largely forgotten today, but it was a bloody preview of the type of warfare that the U.S. military faced in Asia and now in Afghanistan, historians say.
“It was the 19th century version of Vietnam,” said Edward Sheehy, a professor of military history at La Salle University in Pennsylvania.
There was, however, one big difference: The U.S. won. How did a far weaker U.S. military prevail in the Philippines and what lessons can Obama apply from that victory to Afghanistan today? FULL POST
