General McChrystal is being summoned to the White House after his remarks in Rolling Stone magazine. And criminal investigators are examining allegations that Afghan security firms have been extorting as much as 4 million dollars a week in US tax dollars.

McChrystal Versus White House Flame War Gets Ugly; McChrystal Summoned to DC
Fox News got an early copy and wrote up some of the more incendiary comments on its web site. The story instantly went viral. America’s top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, and his closest aides, mocking vice president Joe Biden, calling National Security Adviser and former Marine general James Jones a “clown,” and questioning whether the war is winnable.

Taliban finance chief captured in raid

KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO and Afghan forces captured a senior Taliban figure in an overnight raid, the international force said Tuesday in a statement.

US May Fund Taliban Via Protection Racket

WASHINGTON — Criminal investigators are examining allegations that Afghan security firms have been extorting as much as $4 million a week from contractors paid with U.S. tax dollars and then funneling the spoils to warlords and the Taliban.

Taliban Offer Prisoner Swap for Troops

Taliban militants in Pakistan’s northwest Tuesday offered the government a prisoner swap in return for 33 missing soldiers, threatening to kill the men if the proposal is rebuffed.

General recalled to Washington after controversial remarks in article

(CNN) — Gen. Stanley McChrystal, America’s top military commander in Afghanistan, has been recalled to Washington amid his controversial remarks about colleagues in a Rolling Stone article, officials said.

Nine NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — Nine members of NATO-led forces were killed Monday in several attacks in Afghanistan, officials said.

White House: Afghan pullout will start in 2011

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration reaffirmed Sunday that it will begin pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan next summer, despite reservations among top generals that absolute deadlines are a mistake.

9-month deployments, 3 years of dwell favored

The Army wants to reduce combat zone deployments to nine months and increase dwell time to three years, Gen. George Casey, Army chief of staff, told Army Times.

New Commission Frees Taliban Suspects

KABUL — Afghanistan’s controversial new commission formed to release suspected Taliban prisoners has set free 14 detainees already, primarily from U.S. custody, and more than two dozen more releases are imminent, Afghan officials told McClatchy on Sunday.