U.S. Military Effort in Afghanistan: Is It Working?

April 10, 2007 -- Opium and Heroin Production Still Huge in Afghanistan
Five years after the fall of the Taliban, opium is a bigger crop than ever in Afghanistan. (ABC News)

As Taliban Promises Offensive, Karzai Says Group is 'Defeated'
Amid reports that thousands of suicide bombers and insurgents were getting ready to strike in Afghanistan, ABC's Diane Sawyer traveled to the country to talk to its first elected president, Hamid Karzai. (ABC News)

A "New" Taliban Proving Deadly to NATO Forces
Coalition forces in Afghanistan are fighting a deadlier Taliban than ever, as jihadis returning from Iraq use techniques like suicide bombings and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to challenge NATO forces, experts tell ABC News. (ABC News)

16 Killed in Iraqi Suicide Bombing
A female suicide bomber wearing a black abaya detonated her explosives belt in a crowd of about 200 police recruits northeast of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 16 people, police and hospital officials said. (AP)

4 U.S. Soldiers Die in Iraq
Three U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, and another was killed in combat in Anbar province, the military said Tuesday. (AP)

Learning to Live With the Mahdi Army
No, there have been no problems, the police commander was telling the armor-laden American soldiers squeezed into his office in the vast Shiite enclave of Sadr City. Except, he said, for the text-messaged death threats he often received from militia members. (Washington Post)

Australia Will Double its Troops in Afghanistan
Australia will nearly double its military deployment in Afghanistan to about 1,000 soldiers by the middle of next year, the country's prime minister, John Howard, announced today. (The Guardian)

Somali Fighting Killed More Than 1,000: Report
Recent clashes pitting Ethiopian and Somali forces against clan militia and insurgents killed at least 1,086 people and wounded more than 4,300, according to a local committee set up to assess the damage. (Reuters)

Mother of All Crimes Perpetrated in Somalia
Two days ago, the EU Head of delegation to Kenya, Eric van der Linden, called for an investigation into alleged war crimes, including genocide, in Somalia, perpetrated by Ethiopian and Somali forces. This refers once again to the disastrous situation of the International Law under the leadership of the Western World and hegemony of the US. (Dar Al-Hayat)

Iranian Bypasses Travel Ban
An Iranian Revolutionary Guard general who is banned from traveling abroad by the U.N. Security Council visited Russia without any difficulty, Iranian state television reported on its Web site Monday. (AP)