Afghanistan

Sen. Lugar: Keeping Major U.S. Presence In Afghanistan Is Not 'Rational'

Susan Crabtree | May 3, 2011, 10:21AM

Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged the Obama administration to significantly scale back U.S. resources and military commitment in Afghanistan given the bleak chances for establishing a flourishing, stable democracy there any time soon.

"It's exceedingly difficult to conclude that our vast expenditures in Afghanistan represent a rational" strategy, Lugar said during opening remarks at a Tuesday hearing on the future of Afghanistan.

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Topics: Afghanistan, Afghanistan Corruption, Hamid Karzai, John Kerry, Osama bin Laden, Pakistani Taliban, Richard Lugar, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Afghanistan

CIA Afghanistan Station Chief 'Spider' Is Karzai's Favorite American

Ryan J. Reilly | August 24, 2010, 12:06PM

The head of the Central Intelligence Agency's Afghanistan Bureau has taken on a quasi-diplomatic role in U.S. relations with President Hamid Karzai in the midst of an American-backed effort to root out corruption in the fledgling democracy.

Known to some of his colleagues by the nickname "Spider," the station chief is a former Marine in his 50s, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Their relationship was cemented in December 2001, when the U.S. military accidentally ordered a bomb drop on a meeting between Karzai and other tribal leaders, and "Spider" leapt on Karzai to shield him, saving the soon-to-be Afghan president. Now, "Spider" is brought in at critical times, including in May when the White House tapped him to calm the Afghan president after he lashed out at the U.S.

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Topics: Afghanistan, CIA, Hamid Karzai, Stanley McCrystal