The opening of the $11.1 million Peru-Mexico bridge is scheduled for Friday. It will be dedicated to Pfc. Buddy W. McLain of Mexico, who died Nov. 29, 2010, while serving in Afghanistan. (Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times) The dedication plaque at the new Pfc. Buddy Wendell McLain Memorial Bridge, connecting Mexico and Peru. PERU — A ceremony to honor […]
Afghanistan
Posted inNation / World
Afghan official: US drone kills Pakistan Taliban chief
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A U.S. drone strike in northeastern Kunar province killed Pakistan Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah, the insurgent leader who ordered the assassination of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, an Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman said Friday. In a telephone interview, Mohammad Radmanish said Fazlullah and two other insurgents were killed early Thursday morning, […]
advertisement
Posted inLetters, sj-web
Golden has my vote
First and foremost, we need to elect a person for the 2nd U.S. Congressional District who will always vote in the best interest of all the people and not just for the corporations. We need someone who has the experience and knowledge to understand how laws impact veterans, senior citizens, low and middle-income families. We […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Pentagon: Gag order on Afghan data was a mistake
WASHINGTON (AP) — In an abrupt reversal, the U.S. military on Tuesday said it made a mistake when it ordered an independent federal auditor to stop providing the public with information about U.S. war efforts in Afghanistan that help to measure how the 16-year-old stalemated war is going. Just hours after the report was publicly […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
One Marine's mission: To honor a hero at Bates College
Steven Arango never met Capt. George “Alexi” Whitney, but he still feels a connection to the late Bates College graduate. Having spent a semester at Bates, Arango understands the commitment required by Whitney to have graduated cum laude from Bates in 2000. But the greater connection is that both men served in the U.S. Marines […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Bowe Bergdahl avoids prison; Trump calls sentence 'disgrace'
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, center, arrives at the Fort Bragg courtroom facility for a sentencing hearing at Fort Bragg, N.C., Friday, Nov. 3, 2017. Bergdahl, who walked off his base in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held by the Taliban for five years, pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome) […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Taliban targets Defense Secreatry Jim Mattis' plane at Kabul airport
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, right, speaks during a press conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, left, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017. The spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry said several civilians have been wounded in a rocket attack at Kabul’s international airport […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Candidates generally skeptical of expanding U.S. effort in Afghanistan
Political challengers who hope to represent Maine in the nation’s capital are divided about how best to deal with the nation’s longest-ever war. Though several are skeptical of President Donald Trump’s overhaul of American policy toward Afghanistan, one Democratic congressional contender said it might be the best option available. Trump’s recent shift in strategy offers […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Can we win the war in Afghanistan?
President Trump is not the first U.S. leader to pivot when it comes to foreign policy. His speech Monday night before American military personnel at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia, was in stark contrast to his campaign pledge to put “America first” and his promise to avoid “foreign entanglements,” as George Washington put it in […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Trump signs on to the forever war in Afghanistan
NEW YORK — There is surely no greater sign of the bankruptcy of American foreign policy than its Afghanistan policy. After 15 years of war and the deployment of hundreds of thousands of troops, a new president entered the Oval Office poised to fundamentally change that policy. Within months he presented, with great fanfare, a […]