WASHINGTON – The U.S. military is planning to elevate the role of Special Operations forces in Afghanistan as it shifts away from a combat focus to a mission that places greater emphasis on training Afghan forces and raids to kill senior insurgent leaders, senior U.S. officials said.
The initial steps in that direction are likely to take place in the next few months, when the Pentagon is expected to create a new two-star command that would oversee the entire Special Operations effort in Afghanistan.
The new command would be led by Maj. Gen. Tony Thomas, the deputy commander of the military’s Joint Special Operations Command.
Smiling Yemen chief enrages NYC protest
A protest of the embattled president of Yemen outside the New York hotel where he’s staying got heated when demonstrators saw him leave the building.
The dozen protesters had been kept across the street from the Ritz-Carlton hotel Sunday afternoon. They had been waving flags and yelling in opposition to President Ali Abdullah Saleh. He is visiting the United States for medical treatment.
Saleh exited the hotel, waved and smiled sardonically toward the protesters. One of them tried to charge across the street, but was restrained by authorities. Someone also threw a shoe in Saleh’s direction.
Saleh got into his car, and his motorcade left.
Police use stun gun on N.C. line-jumper
North Carolina authorities say they used a stun gun on a female motorist who blocked a McDonald’s drive-through for 20 minutes after employees refused to serve her because she cut in line.
Authorities say Evangeline Lucca, 37, bypassed the order screen and line and pulled directly up to the pick-up window Friday afternoon at the restaurant in Hope Mills, about 60 miles south of Raleigh.
Cumberland County sheriff’s spokeswoman Debbie Tanner told the Fayetteville Observer that the woman had her 3-year-old daughter in the car when she became confrontational with the workers before deputies arrived.
Tanna said Lucca was subsequently shocked by deputies and charged with second-degree trespass.
