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

Times Square

Indictment: Failed Times Square Bomber Had Help From Pakistan

Justin Elliott | June 18, 2010, 9:12AM

On Thursday alleged Times Square would-be bomber Faisal Shahzad, who was previously charged with the attempted car bombing, was indicted by a grand jury on ten new charges in New York. And the indictment alleges that Shahzad had operational help from an unnamed person in Pakistan.

Check out this section from the indictment:

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Topics: Faisal Shahzad, Pakistani Taliban, Times Square, Times Square Bomb

Times Square Bomb

Ex-ATF Agent: Shahzad 'Was Not The Valedictorian Of The Bomb School'

Justin Elliott | May 11, 2010, 8:34AM

With top Obama Administration officials now saying that alleged Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad was trained in Pakistan, the natural next question is: what kind of terrorist training results in what was by all accounts an extremely crude bomb that not only failed to go off, but also included 250 pounds of nonexplosive fertilizer?

TPMmuckraker put the question to explosives expert James Cavanaugh, who recently retired after more than three decades with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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Topics: Eric Holder, Faisal Shahzad, John Brennan, Obama Administration, Pakistan, Pakistani Taliban, Times Square, Times Square Bomb

Times Square

The Failed Times Square Bomb: What Do We Know (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 3, 2010, 10:12AM

At around 6:30 p.m. Saturday night, a green 1993 Nissan Pathfinder driving west on 45th street stopped west of Broadway in New York's Times Square.

T-shirt vendor Lance Orton noticed smoke coming out of the SUV and pointed it out to a police officer. He called backup, the area was evacuated, and the bomb squad came in. While several popping sounds emanated from the SUV, which filled with smoke, the makeshift bomb did not go off.

Here's what we know about the investigation and what happened:

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Topics: Janet Napolitano, Michael Bloomberg, Pakistani Taliban, Terrorism, Times Square, Times Square Bomb