Afghanistan

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FILE - In this Dec. 28, 2011 file photo, a former Taliban fighter places a range of bullets before surrendering it to Afghan authorities, as part of a peace-reconciliation program in Herat, west of Kabul, Afghanistan. The Islamic State group controls a third of both Syria and Iraq, where it declared a caliphate governed by an extremely harsh interpretation of Shariah law and demanded the allegiance of the world&#8217;s Muslims. The Taliban, by contrast, are narrowly focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan, and some leaders have even responded to past peace overtures. (AP Photo/Reza Shirmohammadi, File)

Taliban not a terrorist group: White House

By Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Fight Boko Haram with mutual interests

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES

FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 12, 2015 file photo, An Afghan money changer, right, counts a pile of currency at the Money and Exchange Market in Kabul. Afghanistan’s fragile economy has lost around a third of its value in the past year as the international military and aid organizations that poured in cash for more than a decade have drastically scaled back after U.S. President Barack Obama declared an end to the 13-year war against the Taliban _ leaving the government struggling for funds and key sectors lacking investment, economists, analysts and officials said. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, FIle)

Afghan economic crisis looms as foreign aid dollars depart

By RAHIM FAIEZ and LYNNE O'DONNELL - Associated Press

Text of President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union address

Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican and member of the House Armed Services Committee (Associated Press) **FILE**

Army battlefield intelligence network for Afghanistan War met only ‘minimum capabilities’

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

Illustration on closing Guantanamo by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

JUDSON PHILLIPS: Al Qaeda would like to thank Obama

By Judson Phillips

In this Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014, file photo, Iraqi security forces hold a flag of the Islamic State group they captured during an operation outside Amirli, some 105 miles (170 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo, File) ** FILE **

Afghanistan confirms Islamic State in-country; recruiter is ex-Gitmo guy

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

FILE - This Aug. 20, 2014 file photo shows Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey speaking at Madison Square Garden in New York. During a Pentagon briefing Thursday, Dempsey said it's possible to contain the Islamic State militants, but it can't be done permanently without going after the group in Syria. Speaking to reporters with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Dempsey said he wasn't predicting U.S. airstrikes in Syria, but said the problem must be addressed diplomatically, politically and militarily by America and its regional partners. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

Joint Chiefs chairman distances himself from Obama promise on Afghanistan

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is expected to make a visit to Washington sometime this spring. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghan president to visit U.S. as Taliban tension flares

By Maggie Ybarra - The Washington Times

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, left, former President Hamid Karzai, center, and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, right, attend a ceremony marking the completion of security transition to Afghan security forces in Kabul, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015. Afghan police are investigating a rocket strike on a wedding party that killed at least 28 people, many of them women and children, an official said Thursday, as President Ashraf Ghani marked the country&#8217;s transition to full sovereignty after the 13-year international military mission to rid Afghanistan of insurgents officially ended. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan president: Obama should ‘re-examine’ withdrawal

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

In this Dec. 24, 2014 photo, an Afghan National Army soldier prays during an ongoing operation in the Dangam district of Kunar province, Afghanistan. The mountains of Dangam in the remote eastern border region of Afghanistan are dotted with the smoke of mortars and rockets fired by Talban insurgents waging war on government forces as they attempt to establish a permanent presence now that the American soldiers who led the fight here for more than a decade have packed up and left. (AP Photo)

Afghan mountain hamlet a proving ground for army

By RAHIM FAIEZ and LYNNE O'DONNELL - Associated Press

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was released in May after nearly five years as a hostage, and perhaps after a failed ransom payment to an Afghan national. (Associated Press)

Inside the Ring: Bowe Berghdal ransom claims grab attention of Pentagon’s inspector general

By Bill Gertz

A US Army window gunner holds his weapon on a helicopter carrying U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel during his visit to American troops in eastern Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Mark Wilson, Pool)

U.S. off war footing at year’s end, but wars go on

By ROBERT BURNS and DEB RIECHMANN - Associated Press

In this picture taken on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014, an internally displaced Afghan girl prepares traditional bread in a camp in Kabul, Afghanistan. Thousands of Afghans are pouring into makeshift camps in the capital where they face a harsh winter as the Taliban return to areas once cleared by foreign forces, who this week are marking the end of their combat mission. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)

Afghans fleeing war now face brutal winter

By Rahim Faiez and Lynne O'Donnell - Associated Press

Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Gen. John Campbell, center, cases the ISAF flag during a ceremony at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014. The United States and NATO formally ended their war in Afghanistan on Sunday with the ceremony at their military headquarters in Kabul as the insurgency they fought for 13 years remains as ferocious and deadly as at any time since the 2001 invasion that unseated the Taliban regime following the Sept. 11 attacks. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)

U.S., NATO mark end of 13-year war in Afghanistan

By LYNNE O'DONNELL - Associated Press

FILE PHOTO - Soldiers from Company H (Hawk Co.), 3rd Squadron, 2nd Striker Cavalry Regiment, dismount from a their vehicle and prepare to raid a series of compounds Nov. 22, in the Maywand District, Afghanistan

Green Berets cleared in Afghanistan friendly fire deaths

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

President Obama praised the courage of the U.S. Armed Forces as he called an end to combat operations in Afghanistan, thereby closing America's longest war. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) — FILE

Obama marks end of Afghan mission as ‘milestone’

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

President Barack Obama, with first lady Michelle Obama, speaks to troops and their families on Christmas Day, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014, at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii during the Obama family vacation. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Obama tells troops: ‘The world is better, safer, more peaceful’

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

Image: Twitter, John McCain

John McCain spends Christmas in Afghanistan, meets leaders in Kabul

Associated Press

In this file photo taken Dec. 10, 2014, Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani speaks during a news conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, File)

Afghans hope for change after bloody year

By Lynne O'Donnell - Associated Press