Afghanistan

At dawn, Sharif, 58, Kabul's most famous kebab man, goes to buy the best cut of meat and never even haggles about the price. By 12:30 p.m. his kebabs will be sold out, and waiters in his tiny smoked-filled restaurant will have to turn hungry and disappointed people away. Mohammed Hasan, 55, who has been tailor to kings and government officials for decades, is doing so well, he had to hang a sign in his shop, warning off new customers.

When 500 U.S. Marines descended on this Taliban stronghold overnight, Afghan civilians were immediately suspicious about the intentions of the heavily-armed Americans. One question dominated all others: How long will the Americans stay? Five months later, there is still no clear answer. "The No. 1 question the Marines get is: 'When are you going home?' " said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, an Iraq combat veteran and now the top Marine in Afghanistan. "They can't believe we're staying."

A senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform wants his panel to investigate whether insurance giant American International Group Inc. and other providers have unnecessarily denied and delayed costly medical treatment for civilian contractors injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) also called for an investigation into the Labor Department's role in overseeing the federally financed insurance system for civilians working overseas.

Everybody knows about Jay Leno's taste for topical humor. Far fewer are aware that his wife, Mavis, has long been one of Hollywood's most influential behind-the-scenes activists on behalf of women. For more than a decade Mavis Leno has made the plight of Afghan women her particular case and this month she and the organization in which she plays a pivotal role -- the Feminist Majority Foundation -- will hold what amounts to a coming out party for the next round in this cause.

Weighing 70 tons, traveling up to 45 mph and possessed of a smash-mouth name, the Assault Breacher Vehicle is the Marine Corps' latest answer to a perennial problem of offensive warfare: how to push through the barriers and booby traps of an enemy's outer defenses. Over the decades, Marines have used various strategies to breach defenses, involving heavy vehicles or, in some cases, sending Marine engineers into minefields to set, by hand, line charges loaded with explosives. "Breaching is always the hardest part of an assault," said Sgt. Carl Hewett, a breacher operator stationed here.

U.S. military leaders have concluded that their war effort in Afghanistan has been too focused on hunting Al Qaeda, and have begun to shift Predator drone aircraft to the fight against the Taliban and other militants in order to prevent the country from slipping deeper into anarchy. The move, described by government and Defense Department officials, represents a major change in the military's use of one of its most precious intelligence assets.

When she was 7 years old, Rahila Muhibi was engaged to her 8-year-old first cousin. The betrothal was arranged, in the Afghan custom, by her father. When Muhibi was ready for high school, her father fended off relatives who demanded that the marriage take place. He thought she was too young, and instead helped her win a scholarship to attend school in Canada. Last month, Muhibi, 24, graduated from tiny Methodist University here.

After the invasion of Iraq, the U.S. military discovered that rebuilding the country and confronting an insurgency required a weapon not in its arsenal: thousands of interpreters. To fill the gap, the Pentagon turned to Titan Corp., a San Diego defense contractor, which eventually hired more than 8,000 interpreters, most of them Iraqis. For $12,000 a year, these civilians served as the voice of America's military, braving sniper fire and roadside bombs. Insurgents targeted them for torture and assassination.

American military fatalities in Afghanistan doubled in 2009 compared with the previous year, and U.S. officials and analysts acknowledge that the new year is likely to prove even more lethal. The planned U.S. troop buildup and ever-deadlier tactics adopted by the Taliban and other insurgent groups are expected to result in at least a temporary surge in deaths and injuries among American troops. Nearly 70,000 are currently serving here and an additional 30,000 are to arrive in this year.

'There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies," observed Winston Churchill in 1945, "and that is fighting without them." It's a truth worth recalling as the Obama administration nears critical decisions on Afghanistan. American commentators often shortchange allied efforts in Afghanistan, ignoring the facts and insulting our friends. The European allies and Canada provide about half of the 73,000 troops in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, and they account for nearly 40% of Western combat deaths since 2001.

The United States on Friday promised allies armored vehicles and technology meant to protect against roadside bombs, an offer officials hope will entice those nations to step up their contributions to the war in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the U.S. would provide heavily armored mine resistant ambush protected trucks, known as MRAPs, to allies conducting operations in violent areas of Afghanistan. "They have saved thousands of limbs and lives in Iraq and Afghanistan," Gates said.

Weighing 70 tons, traveling up to 45 mph and possessed of a smash-mouth name, the Assault Breacher Vehicle is the Marine Corps' latest answer to a perennial problem of offensive warfare: how to push through the barriers and booby traps of an enemy's outer defenses. Over the decades, Marines have used various strategies to breach defenses, involving heavy vehicles or, in some cases, sending Marine engineers into minefields to set, by hand, line charges loaded with explosives. "Breaching is always the hardest part of an assault," said Sgt. Carl Hewett, a breacher operator stationed here.

Western forces killed four Afghan troops Saturday in an airstrike, and military officials disclosed that an Afghan interpreter had shot dead two U.S. service members a day earlier, in a rare concentration of deaths at the hands of allies. Even more unusually, the lethal incidents occurred in the same district of Wardak province, west of the capital, Kabul, but officials said they did not appear to be related. The deaths came on the heels of a conference in London at which nations contributing troops and aid worked to lay the groundwork for an eventual Western withdrawal.

Western troops traveling through the capital of Afghanistan in a military convoy Thursday shot dead an Islamic cleric, apparently mistaking him for a would-be suicide bomber, officials and witnesses said. NATO acknowledged that its forces had fired on what appeared to be a "threatening vehicle," and expressed regret for the death. Afghan police said two of the cleric's children were in the car with him but were not hurt. The incident took place hours before Afghan President Hamid Karzai, speaking to a major security conference in London, urged that greater care be taken when foreign troops come in contact with civilians.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai told world leaders Thursday that he intends to reach out to the top echelons of the Taliban within a few weeks, accelerating a peace initiative that has troubled U.S. and many other Western leaders. Karzai told officials of nearly 70 countries and of international aid groups at a gathering in London that he is seeking the mediation of Saudi Arabia and the blessing of Pakistan to try to negotiate peace with the leaders of the militant movement that was driven from power a little more than eight years ago. The initiative is delicate for the Obama administration, which wants peace in Afghanistan but is sensitive to concerns about making peace with an opponent that has killed well over 1,000 Western troops and been blamed for aiding in the 9/11 attacks.

A car bomb blew up Tuesday at the gates of a U.S. military base on the outskirts of Kabul, and Afghan officials said at least half a dozen people were hurt. The Taliban claimed responsibility. The attack, the second major strike in Afghanistan's capital in just over a week, appeared intended as a reminder of the insurgency's strength in advance of a major international conference on the country's security. President Hamid Karzai is to meet in London on Thursday with senior representatives of countries contributing troops and aid to Afghanistan, with the aim of bolstering support for the war effort and his beleaguered government.

Afghan soldiers held the mullah at gunpoint outside his house while they stabbed at the walls and floors with bayonets, searching for hollow spots where he might have hidden explosives or weapons. The mullah pulled a government document from his pocket stating that he had forsaken the Taliban and had been granted amnesty. He showed it to an Afghan soldier, who shoved it back at him. "He said, 'That letter means nothing to us,' " said the mullah, recalling the encounter last fall at his Kabul home.

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Under strong international pressure to reform Afghanistan's electoral system before holding another nationwide vote, the government of President Hamid Karzai on Sunday put off balloting for a new parliament until September. Election officials and Karzai had said the voting would take place in May, but Western diplomats had made it clear that their governments would refuse to pick up the tab for any balloting held before "root-and-branch" electoral reforms.

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq: Robert Donevski, 19, of Sun City, Ariz.; specialist, Army. Donevski was killed Jan. 16 during a firefight with insurgents near Abad in western Afghanistan's Farah province, on the Iranian border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo. Adam K. Ginett, 29, of Knightdale, N.C.; technical sergeant, Air Force.

War casualties TOTAL U.S. DEATHS In and around Iraq: 4,377 In and around Afghanistan: 886 Other locations: 73 Includes military and Department of Defense-employed civilian personnel killed in action and in nonhostile circumstances as of Friday Source: Department of Defense