LA Times News

LA Times News

Obama's troop move a calculated risk

Posted: 23 Jun 2011 06:40 PM PDT

The president is balancing domestic pressure against commanders' warnings that leaving too soon could make things worse in Afghanistan.

President Obama's decision to break with his top Pentagon advisors and pull 33,000 troops from Afghanistan faster than they wanted is a calculated risk, balanced between domestic political pressure for even steeper force cuts and warnings that his move could lead to worsening conditions on the ground.

EU ties fray over debt crisis, border control

Posted: 23 Jun 2011 06:22 PM PDT

The dream of a common future for the continent fades as some countries worry about being yoked to shaky economies and others rethink their open borders.

Erik Holm Jensen slips between countries without a thought or a passport.

Colombia coca production declined, U.N. study says

Posted: 23 Jun 2011 06:22 PM PDT

The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime estimates the nation's coca crop at 155,000 acres in 2010, down from 182,500 acres in 2009.

Acreage dedicated by Colombian farmers to growing coca, the illicit raw material of cocaine, fell 15% in 2010, the third straight annual drop, according to a U.N. study released Thursday.

Syrian troops said to mass on border with Turkey

Posted: 23 Jun 2011 05:28 PM PDT

Pro-democracy activists say Syrian troops and tanks have rolled into areas near the border, across which refugees have fled to makeshift camps. The move could further strain ties with longtime ally Turkey, which has been critical of the crackdown.

Syrian army units massed near the border with Turkey on Thursday, according to Syrian pro-democracy activists and media accounts, with some troops, backed by tanks, rolling into a village close to makeshift refugee camps housing civilians who fled villages in northwest Syria.

Egypt's would-be president faces tough balancing act

Posted: 23 Jun 2011 03:08 PM PDT

Amr Moussa seeks to portray himself both as political veteran and reformer. But past ties could hurt him more than help him.

Just outside his office at the Arab League, Amr Moussa displays the typical power photos of Western politicians: handshake snapshots with the king of Spain, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Clinton.

France to gradually pull troops from Afghanistan

Posted: 23 Jun 2011 12:16 PM PDT

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he will gradually withdraw troops from Afghanistan, following the lead of the U.S. He gave no numbers but says French forces will start handing over areas they control to the Afghan military.

Following America's lead, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Thursday that his nation would begin to gradually withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

U.S. contractors face dangers in Iraq; 1 killed in bombing

Posted: 23 Jun 2011 09:06 AM PDT

American civilians working for the U.S. government and Embassy are targeted by militants and hounded by Iraqi police.

Stephen Everhart was brought to Iraq by the U.S. Agency for International Development to assist the University of Baghdad's business college in qualifying for international accreditation.

Obama orders rapid drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 09:49 PM PDT

Citing success in the war against insurgents over the last two years, he calls for 33,000 'surge' troops to begin coming home, and says it's time for America to take a more 'pragmatic' approach to military intervention.

Declaring that the "tide of war is receding," President Obama ordered a rapid withdrawal of the 33,000 "surge" troops he sent to Afghanistan and charted a path toward ending large-scale U.S. combat operations in Central Asia.

House GOP moves ahead with plan for Libya cutoff

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 09:49 PM PDT

The measure to halt funding could come up for a vote this week. Supporters call it a message to President Obama for not seeking congressional support.

House Republicans charged forward Wednesday with a plan to try to scale back U.S. military engagement in Libya, a move intended as a rebuke of President Obama's handling of the mission.