Afghanistan

Glendale Unified facilities workers on Tuesday gave a warm send-off to a long-time supervisor prepping for a year-long military deployment to Afghanistan. Keith Jones, who first joined the Navy reserves in 1999, is scheduled to travel later this week to Fort Polk in Louisiana for combat training. He will then be assigned to an Army unit in Afghanistan where he will provide operational support. “I am really proud that you are leaving a district that will be covering you financially while you are away so your family will not have to worry about that,” Glendale Unified school board member Mary Boger said at the going away party.

On your right as you walk into Azeen's Afghani Restaurant in Pasadena, a tapestry weaves a scene of Bushkazi, Afghanistan's national sport, a sort of polo played with a decapitated goat carcass. On the wall on your left, a photograph shows players on their galloping mounts. (You can't see the goat draped over a horse's withers - a good thing for diners at the table beside the print.) My dining companion on my first trip to Azeen's had spent some time in war-time Afghanistan and had memories of a Bushkazi match, and of eating goat, though he assured me the goat on his plate was not the goat from the match.

Robert Chacon The U.S. campaign to rid Afghanistan of Taliban forces and establish democracy has taken that country a step back from the goal, and has made life more dangerous for the country's people, especially women and children, a guest speaker said at Glendale Community College. The message was delivered Thursday by Sahar Saba, a member of the Revolutionary Assn. of the Women of Afghanistan, a group formed in 1977 in the battle to establish rights for women in the war-torn country notorious for its treatment of them.

A Marine from Glendale has been killed in Afghanistan, the Marine Corps said today. Lance Cpl. Pedro A. Barbozaflores, 27, was killed Saturday during the Marines' push into Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. Some 4,000 Marines have been assigned to rout the Taliban and other insurgents from the province. Barbozaflores was part of the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Lejeune, N.C. Also killed was another Marine from that unit, Master Sgt. Jerome Hatfield, 36, of Axton, Va. The two were reportedly killed by a roadside bomb.

Local representatives were optimistic about President Obama?s new strategy for war operations in Afghanistan, although they had some reservations about his approach. The president announced Tuesday plans to deploy an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan for increased security and security forces training in preparation for a transfer of military responsibility there. Obama also set a date to begin troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, aiming for mid-2011, depending on the progress of U.S. operations, he said.

GLENDALE — A local Marine was one of two killed Saturday during combat in the Helmand province in Afghanistan, U.S. Department of Defense officials announced Tuesday. Lance Cpl. Pedro A. Barbozaflores, 27, of Glendale, and Master Sgt. Jerome D. Hatfield, 36, of Axton, Va., died Saturday while supporting combat operations in southern Afghanistan, according to the Defense Department. The pair were reportedly killed when an improvised explosive device hit their vehicle.

Karen S. Kim GLENDALE -- A young soldier in Afghanistan suffers from hypothermia after spending more than 14 hours belly down in the snow to protect the American machine gun equipment from being overtaken by the Al Quaeda. Propaganda is circulated throughout Afghanistan by terrorists threatening local citizens that death awaits any who are found aiding American troops. Afghanistan school children are excited and giddy at the prospect of returning to a classroom after a bombed school house is reconstructed after years of work.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Glendale) ended a brief tour of the Middle East with a visit to the Persian Gulf after trips to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan this weekend with four other members of Congress. Schiff met and discussed the local political climate and the search for Osama bin Laden with Iraqi's interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. Schiff also used the trip as an opportunity to present troops with cards from the Glendale Ararat Chapter's Homenetmen, Glendale's New Horizons Youth Recreation Center and the Boys & Girls of Burbank.

A handful of Clark High School students dressed in formal business attire had a meeting with the commander of the joint anti-corruption task force in Afghanistan - over video conference. Sixteen-year-old Greg Grigoryan, who arranged the call for the school's Geopolitics Club, said he's been a fan of Brig. Gen. H.R. McMaster since watching him on “Charlie Rose” in 2008. From his hub in Afghanistan, McMaster explained the military's stance on the war. “Our forces here are engaged in an enemy that is the enemy of all civilized people,” he began.

Is Glendale so bereft of any culture or other activities to publicize that the only thing we can think of to hang on poles all over town is "No smoking" and "Seat belt your child in their seats" banners? Do we have to be reminded by these fairly ugly banners of what is and isn't legal within the city limits of Glendale? Why don't we just list all of our laws so we can be known as the city of restrictions. I travel all over the country and most cities I visit try to project an image that would be a bit more inviting.

A retired senior Army official on Wednesday told a group of Glendale Unified students that the U.S.-backed military invasion of Iraq developed into a “full-scale insurgency” and warned that the effort in Afghanistan threatens “to keep soaking up our national treasure.” The comments by retired Maj. Gen. Paul D. Eaton came via teleconference with the Geopolitics Club at Clark Magnet High School - from the perspective of a man who was in charge...

Sunday, Oct. 7 marks the 11th anniversary of the beginning of our war in Afghanistan. It is the longest war in U.S. history, as unsuccessful and non-defensive as all the rest since World War II. We have spent over half a trillion dollars, hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians and 2,000 U.S. troops have died, and scores of thousands wounded. More than two-thirds of U.S. citizens do not believe that this war is worth fighting and want it over much sooner than the end of 2014, the announced withdrawal date.

On this Me­mori­al Day, the Los Angeles Times and Times Community News pays trib­ute to the Cali­for­nia ser­vice mem­bers who have died in the wars in Afgh­anistan and Ir­aq by pub­lish­ing a se­lec­tion of com­ments pos­ted over the last year by those who knew and loved them. Hun­dreds more can be read on The Times' data­base,  Cali­for­nia's War Dead . These memor­ies speak of friend­ship and loss in a simple and heart­felt way - and re­mind us of the great sac­ri­fices made in ser­vice to this coun­try.

In a meeting of present-day and future leaders, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) made a pit stop at Burroughs High School in Burbank on Thursday where he debriefed students on the federal deficit, Afghanistan and the political climate in Washington D.C. Schiff was on campus as a guest of the school's Junior State of America chapter, which seeks to strengthen American democracy by educating and engaging youth in the workings of government. During the last year, members have attended a Burbank Historical Commission and board of education meetings, said faculty advisor David Knatcal, and next month they will welcome Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich to campus.

A handful of Clark High School students dressed in formal business attire had a meeting with the commander of the joint anti-corruption task force in Afghanistan - over video conference. Sixteen-year-old Greg Grigoryan, who arranged the call for the school's Geopolitics Club, said he's been a fan of Brig. Gen. H.R. McMaster since watching him on “Charlie Rose” in 2008. From his hub in Afghanistan, McMaster explained the military's stance on the war. “Our forces here are engaged in an enemy that is the enemy of all civilized people,” he began.

On your right as you walk into Azeen's Afghani Restaurant in Pasadena, a tapestry weaves a scene of Bushkazi, Afghanistan's national sport, a sort of polo played with a decapitated goat carcass. On the wall on your left, a photograph shows players on their galloping mounts. (You can't see the goat draped over a horse's withers - a good thing for diners at the table beside the print.) My dining companion on my first trip to Azeen's had spent some time in war-time Afghanistan and had memories of a Bushkazi match, and of eating goat, though he assured me the goat on his plate was not the goat from the match.

Glendale Unified facilities workers on Tuesday gave a warm send-off to a long-time supervisor prepping for a year-long military deployment to Afghanistan. Keith Jones, who first joined the Navy reserves in 1999, is scheduled to travel later this week to Fort Polk in Louisiana for combat training. He will then be assigned to an Army unit in Afghanistan where he will provide operational support. “I am really proud that you are leaving a district that will be covering you financially while you are away so your family will not have to worry about that,” Glendale Unified school board member Mary Boger said at the going away party.

Is Glendale so bereft of any culture or other activities to publicize that the only thing we can think of to hang on poles all over town is "No smoking" and "Seat belt your child in their seats" banners? Do we have to be reminded by these fairly ugly banners of what is and isn't legal within the city limits of Glendale? Why don't we just list all of our laws so we can be known as the city of restrictions. I travel all over the country and most cities I visit try to project an image that would be a bit more inviting.

Three writers have joined forces to create a theater experience with their stories on how war affects soldiers and their families. Angelique Gross, a student at Los Angeles Valley College and the main producer, came up with the idea for a night of one-act plays. She wrote "Wake" about a year ago and it centers on a family dealing with the loss of a son who died in Iraq, she said. Gross' brother just returned from a tour of duty with the army in Iraq. She also has several family members who have served in Afganistan and Iraq, she said.

I t all began while waiting in line for tacos in Santa Barbara. Chiropractor Dee Ann Nason of NorthGlen Chiropractic at 1306 W. Glenoaks Blvd. in Glendale began talking to a man waiting in line with her. Before long, the man began talking about the challenges he was going through acclimating to civilian life. The war veteran had driven trucks and carried heavy equipment through much of his tour. The bouncing motion of the large trucks he drove led to back pain and a lack of sleep.