In a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, President Barack Obama rejected claims that his administration is dithering. ...more

November 13, 2009

President Barack Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration official said Wednesday. ...more

November 11, 2009

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — President Barack Obama carried out the traditional Veterans Day role today, then made a surprise visit to a part of Arlington National Cemetery reserved for troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, walking among the grave sites and talking to mourners. ...more

November 11, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Obama administration officials pledged today to work with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, despite continuing doubts about his credibility that could have been eased had he won a runoff election against his top challenger, who dropped out citing concerns of fraud. ...more

November 1, 2009

The protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are forcing the Obama administration to rethink what for more than two decades has been a central premise of U.S. strategy: that the nation need only prepare to fight two major wars at a time. ...more

March 16, 2009

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki to be the next secretary of Veterans Affairs, turning to a former Army chief of staff once vilified by the Bush administration for questioning its Iraq war strategy shortly before the U.S. invasion. ...more

December 7, 2008

The Bush administration, in the midst of a wide review of its war strategy in Afghanistan, is likely to recommend soon to the incoming Obama administration that the United States push for further expansion of the Afghan army as the surest path to an eventual U.S. withdrawal, The Associated Press has learned. The strategy review, which began in September amid increasing militant violence and a growing U.S. and allied death toll, is being coordinated at the White House and is expected to be presented by December. ...more

November 17, 2008

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, amid speculation she'll run for president in four years, blamed Bush administration policies for the defeat last week of the GOP ticket and prayed she wouldn't miss "an open door" for her next political opportunity. ...more

November 10, 2008

David Petraeus knows Iraq and he's learning Afghanistan. But the biggest test facing the four-star general as he takes charge of U.S. Central Command is probably Pakistan - threatened with financial ruin, torn by an Islamic extremist insurgency and armed with nuclear weapons. ...more

November 1, 2008

The liberal MoveOn.org, a leader of an anti-Iraq war coalition, is asking supporters to help pay for free phone calling cards for soldiers overseas in a partnership with the United Service Organizations, the charity that has helped troops for more than six decades. ...more

December 21, 2007