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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, arriving Friday at NATO headquarters, welcomed an expected series of announcements by allied nations of additional military, civilian and financial support for the war effort in Afghanistan. Clinton was attending a string of meetings here with allied foreign ministers and with representatives of non-NATO countries that have troops in Afghanistan, plus Russia. She sought to sell President Barack Obama's revamped war strategy, which banks on major new allied contributions, not just to escalate the combat effort but also to bolster civilian functions and provide more development aid. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top American commander in Afghanistan, also ... Read Full Story

KABUL (Reuters) - The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan reassured top officials on Thursday that Washington was not planning an early exit, part of a charm offensive to sell President Barack Obama's new strategy on three continents. Obama announced on Tuesday that he is sending 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, but also said they would begin to come home by mid-2011. The new strategy has raised worries at home and in Afghanistan, both among those who oppose sending more troops and those who oppose setting a date for them to start leaving. Since his speech, the president's national security team has been mobilized ... Read Full Story

The U.N. chief has embraced the new U.S. plan for Afghanistan, calling it a balanced effort to achieve stability in the war-torn nation. Ban Ki-moon said he appreciated President Barack Obama's call to "balance military and civilian efforts" and the emphasis on strengthening Afghan institutions and security forces. Obama said in a speech Tuesday night that he plans to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, bringing the total to 100,000, and begin to withdraw troops as early as July 2011. He says Afghan forces would be rapidly trained to take over the fight. Ban says the U.N. remains committed to helping Afghanistan achieve peace, ... Read Full Story

By day, French soldiers fight side by side with Afghans during Taliban attacks. By night, their officers share meals, the French trying to muster haute cuisine from military rations, the Afghans offering steaming piles of mutton stew and rice. As President Barack Obama prepares to pour up to 35,000 more U.S. troops into Afghanistan, a much smaller contingent of NATO trainers — many of them European — form a crucial part of the strategy to win the war and get foreign troops home. The 1,500 trainers from 20 countries live with Afghan forces on the front lines. Their goal: to improve the skills of ... Read Full Story

US Marines and Afghan troops Friday launched the first offensive since President Barack Obama announced an American troop surge, striking against Taliban communications and supply lines in a southern insurgent stronghold, a military spokesman said. Hundreds of troops from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines and the Marine reconnaissance unit Task Force Raider were dropped by helicopter and MV-22 Osprey aircraft behind Taliban lines in the northern end of the Now Zad Valley of Helmand province, scene of heavy fighting last summer, according to Marine spokesman Maj. William Pelletier. A second, larger force pushed northward from the Marines' Forward Operating Base in Now Zad, Pelletier ... Read Full Story