At the end of July, a major milestone took place when responsibility for the security of Afghanistan's volatile southern region was handed from a U.S.-led coalition to the NATO force and 8, 000 of its troops.

NPR: Gen.: Afghanistan Victory Hangs on Rebuilding Effort

Ayatollah Sistani has never advocated military resistance, but he has already shown that he commands enough support in Iraq to force the US-led coalition running the country to drop or revise several political transition plans.

BBC: Yassin killing brings call for Islamic unity

The U.S.-led NATO force said Wednesday that Afghan and coalition forces killed 13 insurgents in joint operations that began a day earlier in eastern Kapisa and Nangarhar provinces close to where the Taliban are thought to have kidnapped a group of foreign civilians.

NPR: UN Warns Of 'Troubling Rise' In Afghan Violence