By Jay Sekulow
The left's outrage over the IRS turns to a plea to 'move on'

One of the most significant turning points in one of America's longest and costliest wars is imminent: Afghanistan's fledgling security forces are taking the lead for security nationwide, bringing the moment of truth on the question of whether they are ready to fight an insurgency that remains resilient after nearly 12 years of conflict.

Afghanistan's parliament has rejected a measure that would have barred men from marrying girls younger than 16, saying the proposal ran counter to Islamic ideology.

A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a NATO convoy in the Afghan capital of Kabul, killing 15 and wounding several dozen more.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif looked set Sunday to return to power for a third term, with an overwhelming election tally that just weeks ago seemed out of reach for a man who had been ousted in a coup and was exiled abroad before clawing his way back as an opposition leader.

A watchdog in charge of tracking how taxpayer dollars are spent in Afghanistan accused the U.S. government of trying to keep him quiet so that the White House isn't embarrassed by waste and fraud reports.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that yes, the United States may indeed install military bases in his country — if America first coughs up enough cash.

The CIA will continue paying cash to the Afghanistan government, President Hamid Karzai said over the weekend.

The CIA delivered over the course of a decade tens of millions of dollars of U.S. cash to Afghan President Hamid Karzai's offices via suitcases, backpacks and plastic bags, a media outlet reported.
"Takedown: Inside the Hunt for Al Qaeda" is an insider account by a former high-level official at the CIA and FBI about how both agencies substantially upgraded their counterterrorism capabilities after the U.S. government's failure to prevent al Qaeda's catastrophic attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

TAKEDOWN: INSIDE THE HUNT FOR AL QAEDA

Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, has given his stamp of approval for Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar to seek the presidency in next year's elections.

U.S. special operations forces handed over their base in a strategic district of eastern Afghanistan to local Afghan special forces on Saturday, senior U.S. commanders said. The withdrawal satisfies a demand by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that U.S. forces leave the area after allegations that the Americans' Afghan counterparts committed human rights abuses there on U.S. orders.

Secretary of State John Kerry is headed home following a busy week of mostly clandestine travels that saw him issuing blunt warnings to Iraqi leaders, trying to bridge disputes with Afghanistan’s president, dining with Pakistani military chiefs and heading a soccer ball.

U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a show of unity Monday, shortly after the U.S. military ceded control of its last detention facility in Afghanistan, ending a longstanding irritant in relations between the two countries.

Pentagon and State Department officials Monday appeared to work in tandem to tamp down reports of mounting tension between the Obama administration and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
That will change after Afghan President Hamid Karzai declares — in an announcement expected soon — that Afghan forces are taking over security around the country and U.S. and other foreign forces will move entirely into a supporting, backseat role.
Last week, Mr. Karzai said he had agreed to an American request to keep nine U.S. bases in Afghanistan after the NATO combat mission ends in 2014, but the White House said it had no intentions of keeping any "permanent" U.S. bases here.