Failure in Afghanistan would mean a Taliban takeover of the country and "have severe consequences for the United States and the world," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday as the Obama administration set out to sell its new war strategy on Capitol Hill. ...more

December 2, 2009

President Barack Obama is dispatching 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, accelerating a risky and expensive war buildup, even as he assures the nation that U.S. forces will begin coming home in July 2011. The first new Marines will join the fight by Christmas. ...more

December 1, 2009

Many of the patients are bereft, angry, broken. Their stories are gruesome and the process of recovery exhausting. In time, the repeated stories of battle and loss can leave even the most professional therapist numb or angry. ...more

November 8, 2009

Six years after the United States invaded Iraq, the end of America's costly mission is in sight, but the future of this tortured country is much less clear. ...more

March 20, 2009

Chalk up two for the bad guys. ...more

March 11, 2009

12,000 Number of U.S. soldiers to withdraw from Iraq by September 12 Number of combat brigades to be left in Iraq after the troops leave in September ...more

March 9, 2009

The U.S. military has announced that 12,000 American and 4,000 British troops will leave Iraq by September. ...more

March 8, 2009

A "substantial" number of the roughly 100,000 U.S. combat troops to be pulled out of Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, will remain in the war zone through at least the end of this year to ensure national elections there go smoothly, senior Obama administration officials say. ...more

February 27, 2009

The United States plans to withdraw most of its troops from Iraq by August 2010, 19 months after President Barack Obama's inauguration, according to administration officials. ...more

February 24, 2009

President Barack Obama's wants to cut the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term, mostly by scaling back Iraq war spending, raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans and streamlining government, an administration official said Saturday as the president worked to finalize his first budget request. ...more

February 21, 2009