Operations

The number of people who believe the United States should be at war in Afghanistan continues to drop, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, released Tuesday.

According to the survey, 69 percent are now against the ongoing U.S. presence in Afghanistan, a drop from 53 percent in the same poll four months ago. 

U.S. and Afghan special forces, largely backed up by Afghan army units, will pick up the slack of American soldiers preparing to leave the country this summer, according to the top U.S. commander in the country. 

The top U.S. commander warned that foreign troops could expect to face continued attacks from Afghan counterparts.

The killing of 17 civilians raises concerns on whether the Pentagon is doing enough to care for troops' mental health.

The U.S. soldier accused in a shooting spree in Afghanistan will be charged with 17 counts of murder, U.S. officials said Friday.

The Army will formally charge Staff Sgt. Robert Bales on Friday, according to reports. The 38-year-old Iraq war veteran is accused of leaving his outpost in Afghanistan on March 11 and going on a shooting spree in a nearby village that left 17 dead.

Bales had been in Afghanistan since December on his fourth combat tour in 10 years. He is being housed in the military’s maximum-security facility at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.

The Pentagon’s request for two new rounds of BRAC in 2013 and 2015 has met stiff opposition in Congress.

Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), who is locked in a member-versus-member primary battle with Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), introduced legislation Tuesday that would allow the Obama administration to give more missile defense systems to Israel.

Berman’s bill would allow the United States to provide more Iron Dome missile defense systems to Israel if the Israeli government requested it. Israel currently has three Iron Dome systems deployed, and Berman said more are needed to secure the country’s borders.

The United States must end its use of aerial drones to track and kill suspected terrorists in Pakistan if Washington wants to repair its fraying alliance with Islamabad, members of that country's parliament said Wednesday.

The lawmakers outlined their criteria for continued cooperation with the United States, which included the end of controversial air strikes by unmanned drones, according to reports in The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The unemployment rate for post-Sept. 11 veterans increased to 12.1 percent last year, up from 11.5 percent in 2010, the Labor Department said Tuesday.

The 2011 unemployment rate for all veterans, however, declined to 8.3 percent from 8.7 percent in 2010, according to the report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Al Qaeda's Yemeni cell has claimed responsibility for the murder of an U.S citizen over the weekend, according to reports by the Wall Street Journal and CNN.