American Morning
"I Am A Soldier": Army Sgt. prepping for his third Afghan tour
The last combat troops may be pulling out of Iraq but more soldiers are heading to the other war in Afghanistan. The clock is ticking to stabilize Afghanistan so U.S. troops can meet the president's goal of withdrawing next July.The success of that mission belongs to unit's like the one Sgt. First Class Randy Shorter is part of. They are combat infantry, part of the final surge deploying to the region.
As part of my ongoing series 'A Soldier's Story' we'll be following shorter and his unit as they head into arguably one of the most dangerous parts of the country: Paktika province. I will be departing for Afghanistan tomorrow with Sgt. Randy Shorter. We'll be there with him from the moment he says goodbye to his family and stay with him as he lands in the Paktika Province of Afghanistan for his third combat tour of duty. Located in the southeast, Paktika is a place where attacks by insurgents is a major problem. Their mission: Rebuild infrastructure, help teach the Afghan people how to police themselves, and fight insurgents. Sgt. Shorter and his unit were last deployed there in 2008. Watch 
Secret assault on terrorism?
NATO officials say an al-Qaeda cell leader who may have been training suicide bombers was one of the two insurgents killed in an air strike in Afghanistan over the weekend. The New York Times says the Obama administration is engaged in a secret war against al-Qaeda. Drones and commando teams are said to be tracking terrorists in about a dozen countries. Nearly all of it in secret, with potentially little or no oversight. The paper tracked some of the covert actions. Mark Mazzetti is national security correspondent for the Times, he joined American Morning Monday.
Petraeus issues new directive for troops in Afghanistan
A U.S. soldier shows pictures on his camera to Afghan boys in a village in Kandahar province's Dand district in Afghanistan on July 28, 2010. (Getty Images)
(CNN) – The top general in Afghanistan is offering up new rules of engagement for 150,000 U.S. and coalition troops. The directive from David Petraeus is to limit civilian casualties. The subject has become a major source of tension in Afghanistan. As our Barbara Starr reports, the Taliban is also rolling out a code of conduct for its fighters. Watch
Fallout over leaked Afghan war documents
Julian Assange, founder of "WikiLeaks.org," holds up a copy of the Guardian newspaper in London on July 26, 2010. (Getty Images)
(CNN) – There's major fallout today over the leaking of classified documents from the war in Afghanistan to whistle-blower Web site WikiLeaks.org. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Pentagon is going after the hard drive belonging to Army Intelligence analyst Bradley Manning, who is already charged with leaking classified information. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the latest. Watch
WikiLeaks founder speaks out about leaked Afghan war documents
Abducted U.S. service member killed
By Matiullah Mati, CNN
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) - One of two American service members who were abducted in Afghanistan on Friday has been killed, provincial government officials said Sunday.
Den Mohammad Darwish, the spokesman for the governor of Logar province, said he learned from locals that the American was killed. He said the body was found in the Patanak Mountains of Charkh district. He also said the vehicle the men were driving was located Sunday.
A Taliban spokesman confirmed that the killed American died in a firefight and the other is being held by the group.
Another official, Samar Gul Rashid - who is the governor of the Charkh district in Logar province - also confirmed the killing, saying he learned about it through Afghan intelligence officials.
In releasing a statement Sunday, the Navy confirmed that the two missing service members are sailors.
"The thoughts and prayers of our entire Navy go out to the missing sailors serving in Afghanistan and their families," said Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of U.S. naval operations, in the statement. "We have been closely following the situation from the outset. These sailors represent two of several thousand sailors serving on the ground in Afghanistan in support of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and the International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan.
Afghanistan 'shocked' by leaked U.S. documents
Help us get to the heart of the documents. Take a look at them and see what you can find of interest. Then share it on CNN iReport.
From Atika Shubert, CNN
(CNN) – The Afghan government said Monday it was "shocked" as it sifted through tens of thousands of leaked U.S. military and diplomatic reports on the war in Afghanistan that a whistle-blower website posted a day earlier.
"The Afghan government is shocked with the report that has opened the reality of the Afghan war," said Siamak Herawi, a government spokesman.
WikiLeaks.org - a whistle-blower website - published on Sunday what it says are more than 90,000 United States military and diplomatic reports about Afghanistan filed between 2004 and January of this year.
The first-hand accounts are the military's own raw data on the war, including numbers killed, casualties, threat reports and the like, according to Julian Assange, the founder of the website. Watch
About this Show
Welcome to the American Morning blog where you can get daily news updates from American Morning's reporters and producers. Join us for "the most news in the morning," weekdays from 6-9 a.m. ET, only on CNN.
On Twitter
