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Grandson Returns from Afghanistan to Donate Part of Liver to Dying Vietnam Vet

Photo Credit: KCTV5

Photo Credit: KCTV5

It’s an amazing story of family, love and honor from one East Texas soldier to another. A dying Vietnam veteran is in desperate need of a liver transplant and his grandson is stepping in to help.

Rick Homer spent four years in the Marines and 16 in the U.S. Army. He survived the savage fighting in Vietnam, but now the 62-year-old Longview man is dying.

“I found out about it a little over three years ago. I have hemachromatosis, which is genetic. The liver doesn’t purify the blood like it supposed to. The only time I’ve got left is what the good Lord gives me,” Homer says.

He could have been on a donor list for years, but his grandson, 21-year-old U.S. Army Specialist Ricky Glenn, came to his rescue.

“The loss and the regret of me not doing anything would have outweighed this. I’m the firstborn grandson I carry my grandfather’s name,” Glenn says.

KCTV5

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Watchdog Raises Concerns US Money Paying Afghan ‘Ghost Workers’

Photo Credit: APA watchdog is raising concerns that some of the money the U.S. is spending to pay the salaries of police officers in Afghanistan may be going to non-existent “ghost workers.”

John F. Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan Reconstruction, wrote in a letter last month to U.S. military officials in Afghanistan that the possibility of “ghost workers” was raised several times during his most recent trip to the country, and during discussions with European Union officials.

Sopko said he wants to get to the bottom of the rumors, and noted he has been encouraged by discussions with officials in Afghanistan to address the concerns.

However, Sopko said more action must be taken to determine how exactly American money is flowing through the Afghan banking system and into the salaries of their police force.

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On the Rise: Powerful Figures Sexually Abusing Young Boys Trained to Dance in Female Clothes

Photo Credit: AP / Rahmat GulThe State Department in its 2013 human rights report on Afghanistan said the sexual abuse of boys, or bacha baazi, is on the rise in the region, with the practice becoming common in Kabul.

“The practice of ‘bacha baazi’ (dancing boys) – which involved powerful or wealthy local figures and businessmen sexually abusing young boys who were trained to dance in female clothes – was on the rise,” the State Department said in its human rights report.

The report noted an increase in rapes during the year, with most victims being children. In fact, sexual abuse of children reached an all-time high, according to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC).

“Although pornography is a crime, child pornography is not specifically prohibited by law. Exploiting a child for sexual purposes, as was done with bacha baazi, also was widespread but not specified as a crime under the law,” the State Department noted in its report.

“Although the practice was believed to be more widespread in conservative rural areas, at least one media report alleged that it had become common in Kabul. Media reports also alleged that local authorities, including the police, were involved in the practice, but the government took few steps to discourage the abuse of boys or to prosecute or punish those involved,” the human rights report said.

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Bravo-Foxtrot-Oscar: Taliban will resurge after US drawdown

Photo Credit: allenbwestLast week, the Pentagon issued a report based on an independent study on the future of Afghanistan. As reported in the Washington Free Beacon, the Taliban will resurge in Afghanistan following the drawdown of U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan later this year.

That is what I call a Bravo-Foxtrot-Oscar (Blinding Flash of the Obvious).

The report says the Taliban are expected to regenerate their capabilities in sanctuaries in Pakistan as military pressure on them declines. Over the next three years, the Taliban will expand control and influence in areas left undefended by U.S. and allied troops. They also are expected to “encircle key cities and conduct high-profile attacks.

This is truly dire news for President Obama and his proposed “zero option” force posture for Afghanistan – how’s that working out for Iraq? It seems former SecDef Gates’ assessment of Obama is true: his heart is not in it.

No wonder Karzai is letting Taliban prisoners go free.

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Afghanistan Newspaper Warns: Missionaries are Promoting Christianity in Country

Photo Credit: APBy Michael W. Chapman.

Although U.S. troops have been in Afghanistan for 13-plus years fighting terrorists and aiding the government to a more stable rule, the Afghanistan newspaper Cheragh complained in a recent editorial that “Western democracy” has produced “negative effects” there and specifically cited missionaries who “fearlessly promote Christianity.”

As BBC Worldwide Monitoring reported, the independent newspaper Cheragh published an editorial on Jan. 27 entitled, “Promoting Islamophobia in the Islamic state of Afghanistan.”

“Western democracy, given to us as a gift by foreigners in our country, has had negative effects on our country, 99 per cent of whose population are Muslim,” reads the editorial. “One of the effects of this type of democracy is the presence and activities of Christian missionaries who have entered Afghanistan under the banner of humanitarian aid and social work.”

“Supported by foreign forces, these missionaries fearlessly promote Christianity,” says Cheragh. “They are particularly active in Kabul, Bamian, Paktia, Nurestan, Konduz, Ghazni, Badakhshan and Mazar-e Sharif. No churches have publicly been built in these provinces yet but they perform their religious rites inside rented houses which are protected by the Afghan police.”

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Photo Credit: AP‘Windfalls of war’: Companies with spotty records making billions off Afghanistan

By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos.

The United States government has paid a company based in Switzerland more than $5 billion to feed the troops in Afghanistan, and thanks to a succession of no-bid contract extensions, the company, Supreme Foodservice, overcharged American taxpayers as much as $757 million, officials say.

The U.S. has appropriated more than $100 billion for Afghan reconstruction, which includes not only building and development, but training and arming the Afghan security forces — and the dispute over the massive payments to this single company is just one example of how, more than 12 years into the war, America is struggling to account for how its money has been spent.

So who’s getting rich off the war?

A review conducted by FoxNews.com shows several companies with questionable track records have been able to snag a sizable piece of the pie.

While Supreme Foodservice, a foreign firm, has profited immensely, several American companies have also made out like kings despite delays, accusations of shoddy construction and prolonged contract disputes over the last dozen years.

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Karzai: Afghan Release of Dangerous Militants ‘of No Concern to U.S.’ (+video)

Photo Credit; APLess than a year after Secretary of State John Kerry expressed “great confidence” that U.S. interests would be protected regarding Afghan prisoners, President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that his government’s decisions on prisoner releases are “of no concern to the U.S., and should be of no concern to the U.S.”

The U.S. military regards some of the dozens of prisoners released by Afghan authorities on Thursday as dangerous militants and killers and warns they will return to the battlefield.

“Afghanistan is a sovereign country,” Karzai told reporters in a joint press appearance in Ankara with Turkish and Pakistani leaders. “If the Afghan judicial authorities decide to release a prisoner, it is of no concern to the U.S., and should be of no concern to the U.S.”

Karzai said he hoped the U.S. would “stop harassing” Afghanistan’s judicial authorities. “I hope the United States will now begin to respect Afghan sovereignty.”

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Manchin: ‘We Haven’t Been Successful’ in Changing Afghanistan: ‘Time to Leave’

Photo Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott ApplewhiteSen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) says it’s time to “rebuild America, not Afghanistan.” He and three other senators want Congress to debate a continued U.S. military presence in that country after 12-plus years of war:

“If military might or money would change that part of the world, we’d have changed it by now,” Manchin told a news conference on Thursday.

“We haven’t been successful nor do we believe we will be successful. That’s my deep-rooted commitment to getting out of this part (of the world) and basically protecting America, making sure that harm doesn’t come to any Americans, and we’ll do whatever it takes to protect them.

“But an occupation — that is not our goal. It’s not what we do well, and it’s not been proved successful at all. So again, I’d say if military might or money would have changed that part of the world after 12 years, we’d have changed it, and we haven’t. So it’s time to leave.”

Manchin on Thursday joined fellow Democrat Jeff Merkeley (Ore.) and Republicans Mike Lee (Utah) and Rand Paul (Ky.) in introducing a resolution that says Congress should vote on the Obama administration’s reported plan to keep 10,000 American troops in Afghanistan for another ten years.

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Afghan President Accuses US of Sponsoring Terrorist Attacks to Destabilize Him

Photo Credit: Rahmat Gul/AP

Photo Credit: Rahmat Gul/AP

President Hamid Karzai has frequently lashed out at the U.S. military for causing civilian casualties in its raids. But behind the scenes, he has been building a far broader case against the Americans, suggesting that they may have aided or conducted shadowy insurgent-style attacks to undermine his government, according to senior Afghan officials.

Karzai has formalized his suspicions with a list of dozens of attacks that he believes the U.S. government may have been involved in, according to one palace official. The list even includes the recent bomb and gun assault on a Lebanese restaurant in Kabul, one of the bloodiest acts targeting the international community in Afghanistan, the official said. The attack, which left 21 people dead, including three Americans, was almost universally attributed to the Taliban.

But Karzai believes it was one of many incidents that may have been planned by Americans to weaken him and foment instability in Afghanistan, according to the senior palace official, who is sympathetic to the president’s view and spoke on the condition of anonymity. He acknowledged that his government had no concrete evidence of U.S. involvement and that the American role had not been formally confirmed.

U.S. officials, who have been informed of some of the claims, have reacted with incredulity and anger to the idea that they are trying to debilitate Afghanistan’s government, which they have supported with hundreds of billions of dollars.

“It’s a deeply conspiratorial view that’s divorced from reality,” U.S. Ambassador James B. Cunningham said Monday. He suggested that one reason for the allegations might be to “throw us off balance.”

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Pentagon Fumes as Afghanistan Frees Taliban Fighters with ‘Blood On Their Hands’

Photo Credit: UNITED STATES FORCES AFGHANISTAN

Photo Credit: UNITED STATES FORCES AFGHANISTAN

Afghani officials freed 37 insurgents and Taliban fighters with “blood on their hands” in what the Pentagon called a “major step backward” for the rule of law in the war torn nation.

The hardened fighters were among 88 prisoners who were being held by the U.S. and being transferred to the emerging Afghan criminal justice system. U.S. authorities said many had directly participated in attacks that wounded or killed scores of U.S. military personnel and Afghan citizens, yet were freed by the Afghan Review Board.

“The ARB is releasing back to society dangerous insurgents who have Afghan blood on their hands,” the United States Forces-Afghanistan said in a statement. “This extra-judicial release of detainees is a major step backward in further developing the rule of law in Afghanistan.”

Many of those freed were Taliban fighters who were connected by forensic evidence to specific IED attacks. Several were captured in possession of bomb materials and some even admitted taking part in attacks on coalition forces. At least two had been captured, freed and recaptured.

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Afghan President Says U.S. Should Start Talks With Taliban or Leave

Photo Credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMAD ISMAIL

Photo Credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMAD ISMAIL

President Hamid Karzai appeared to stiffen his resolve on Saturday not to sign a security pact with Washington, saying the United States should leave Afghanistan unless it could restart peace talks with the Taliban.

“In exchange for this agreement, we want peace for the people of Afghanistan. Otherwise, it’s better for them to leave and our country will find its own way,” Karzai told a news conference.

The president said pressing ahead with talks with the Taliban, in power from 1996-2001, was critical to ensure that Afghanistan was not left with a weak central government.

“Starting peace talks is a condition because we want to be confident that after the signing of the security agreement, Afghanistan will not be divided into fiefdoms,” he said.

Most diplomats now agree that Karzai is unlikely to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that would allow for some form of U.S. military presence in Afghanistan after the end of 2014, when most troops are due to leave.

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