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Latest Articles: War, War, War
Blackwater guards’ lawyers want nicknames kept from jury: ‘Savage,’
Post Date: 2009-12-19 14:52:30 by tom007
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Blackwater guards’ lawyers want nicknames kept from jury: ‘Savage,’ ‘Extreme’ By John Byrne Friday, December 18th, 2009 -- 8:46 am Share on Facebook Stumble This! blackwater 070919 mn1 Blackwater guards lawyers want nicknames kept from jury: Savage, ExtremeWhat do you think of the nickname "Murder?" Would it influence you as a juror in a murder trial? How about "Savage Viking" or "Extreme?" The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed an attempted murder conviction for a US gang member, citing what it called the prosecution's "gratuitous exploitation" of the defendant's nickname, "Murder." Now ...
Stunning Statistics About the War Every American Should Know
Post Date: 2009-12-19 08:25:52 by Ada
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A hearing in Sen. Claire McCaskill’s Contract Oversight subcommittee on contracting in Afghanistan has highlighted some important statistics that provide a window into the extent to which the Obama administration has picked up the Bush-era war privatization baton and sprinted with it. Overall, contractors now comprise a whopping 69% of the Department of Defense’s total workforce, "the highest ratio of contractors to military personnel in US history." That’s not in one war zone — that’s the Pentagon in its entirety. In Afghanistan, the Obama administration blows the Bush administration out of the privatized water. According to a memo [PDF] released by ...
Mumbai terror suspect David Headley was ‘rogue US secret agent’
Post Date: 2009-12-18 06:23:40 by Kamala
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Mumbai terror suspect David Headley was ‘rogue US secret agent’ David Headley was allegedly involved in reconnoitring targets for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, including the Taj Hotel Rhys Blakely in Mumbai 8 Comments Recommend? (10) A key terror suspect who allegedly helped to plan last year’s attacks in Mumbai and plotted to strike Europe was an American secret agent who went rogue, Indian officials believe. David Headley, 49, who was born in Washington to a Pakistan diplomat father and an American mother, was arrested in Chicago in October. He is accused of reconnoitring targets in India and Europe for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Pakistan-based terror group ...
PAKISTAN: A military coup is unfolding
Post Date: 2009-12-17 18:44:22 by Jethro Tull
32 Comments
A year after rogue elements of Pakistan's intelligence services disrupted Indian-Pakistani peace talks by staging the Mumbai massacre, the democratically elected government of President Asif Zardari is facing a putsch from within its ranks, engineered by the men who run Pakistan's infamous military-industrial complex. The men who wish to replace Mr. Zardari represent the religious right-wing backers of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, adding a new obstacle in Barack Obama's war effort in Afghanistan. In the West's war against terrorism, Mr. Zardari is probably the only politician in Pakistan who has the guts to identify the cancer of jihadi extremism and order the Pakistani army to ...
Breaking Point - Top Trends
Post Date: 2009-12-17 14:34:27 by Horse
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KINGSTON, NY - The first decade of the 21st century is going out the way it came in with a bust and a bang. The Great Recession is not over. There is no recovery. It's a cover up. Expect another wave of terrorism. Possibly of 9/11 magnitude. As well as challenges, also expect profitable and transformational social, health, environmental, entertainment, cultural, business and consumer trends to emerge in 2010. · The Crash of 2010: The Bailout Bubble is about to burst. Be prepared for the onset of the Greatest Depression. · Depression Uplift: The pursuit of elegance and affordable sophistication will raise spirits and profits. · Terrorism 2010: Years of war in ...
Army Again Turns to Depleted Uranium for New Weaponry
Post Date: 2009-12-17 14:30:47 by Horse
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For decades, depleted uranium (DU) has been the material of choice for anti-tank projectiles — despite a series of controversies about its potential health hazards. But for the near future, at least, the U.S. military will keep on using DU. Alternatives based on tungsten haven’t panned out. Now, the Army is upgrading to a new 120mm Advanced Kinetic Energy round, and about the only thing we know for sure is that it will be made of DU. The generation after that … may be an improved version of DU called Stakalloy. Kinetic rounds are slim metal darts fired from tanks like the MAA1 Abrams at very high velocity. The preference for DU is not based, as some conspiracy theorists ...
Up to 56,000 Contractors Headed to Afghanistan
Post Date: 2009-12-17 13:09:10 by Jethro Tull
18 Comments
(Newser) – Talk of the 30,000 troops Obama is sending to Afghanistan fails to note that they're likely to be joined by as many as 56,000 civilians, according to a tally by a congressional agency. The second surge would bring the number of independent contractors in Afghanistan to somewhere between 130,000 and 160,000, and even more if the strategy focuses heavily on construction and rebuilding. The new civilian recruits could create unprecendented management challenges. To keep an eye on things, Congress has set aside $8 million for an electronic system tracing all contract-related information for Iraq and Afghanistan, reports the Washington Post. Tomorrow, a Senate committee led ...
16 killed in drone attacks in northwestern Pakistan+
Post Date: 2009-12-17 10:37:44 by christine
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ISLAMABAD, Dec. 17 (AP) - (Kyodo)—At least 16 people were killed in two separate drone missile attacks Thursday in tribal area of northwestern Pakistan, according to Pakistani media reports. Local officials were quoted as saying that around 5:45 p.m., 10 missiles were fired at two compounds in the Dattakhel area of North Waziristan tribal regency, killing 14 people including seven foreigners. Express TV reported that an al-Qaida leader, Alzuhaib Alzuhaibi, was among the foreigners killed in the incident. Earlier Thursday, two missiles reportedly hit a vehicle in North Waziristan, killing two people.
Iraq war for Israel not for oil
Post Date: 2009-12-17 09:38:03 by Tatarewicz
20 Comments
Looks like one of America's mainstream media (CNN) has ruled out the Iraq war as being one for oil, but Blitzer seems to be shying away from the real reason for the US-led attack and the ouster of Saddam (discussing the US being the biggest loser in the weekend auction by Iraq of its oil rights). (full story at link) On same site also check out the review of Sniegoski's Transparent Cabal book by the Chistisons. Also note that Stephen Walt will be on radio on Thursday.
Sanctioning Iran a Dangerous, Illegal Move
Post Date: 2009-12-16 20:45:38 by F.A. Hayek Fan
5 Comments
Before the United States House of Representatives, statement opposing the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act I rise in strongest opposition to this new round of sanctions on Iran, which is another significant step toward a U.S. war on that country. I find it shocking that legislation this serious and consequential is brought up in such a cavalier manner. Suspending the normal rules of the House to pass legislation is a process generally reserved for "non-controversial" business such as the naming of post offices. Are we to believe that this House takes matters of war and peace as lightly as naming post offices? This legislation seeks to bar from doing business in the United ...
Proof Our Military Approach In Afgan Is Totally LOONY - Or the Military's Idea of How To Win The Hearts And Minds)
Post Date: 2009-12-16 18:53:58 by tom007
19 Comments
We weren’t sure at first if this was a Team America-inspired parody, but no, it’s just Fox News. On an embed with U.S. Special Forces, Fox’s Greg Palkot channels Kent Brockman as he describes “a new aerial approach to nab the Taliban.” Too bad all the commandos appear to be doing in the clip is nabbing Afghans for the crime of wearing the wrong-colored turbans. This segment shows Green Berets swooping in with helicopters to stop a “suspicious vehicle” in Zabul Province. Palkot gives us the play-by-play: “When a suspicious vehicle is spotted, a Blackhawk helicopter hovers in front and blocks it! The second lands behind and out comes a team of ...
Yemen: Pentagon's War On The Arabian Peninsula
Post Date: 2009-12-16 18:02:02 by Horse
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Yemen will become a battleground for a proxy war between the United States and Saudi Arabia - whose state-to-state relations are among the strongest and most durable of the entire post-World War II era - on one hand and Iran on the other. It is perhaps impossible to determine the exact moment at which a U.S.- supported self-professed holy warrior - trained to perpetrate acts of urban terrorism and to shoot down civilian airliners - ceases to be a freedom fighter and becomes a terrorist. But a safe assumption is that it occurs when he is no longer of use to Washington. A terrorist who serves American interests is a freedom fighter; a freedom fighter who doesn't is a terrorist. Yemenis ...
Homelessness on the Rise for Female Vets
Post Date: 2009-12-16 16:11:04 by Horse
6 Comments
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The $15,000 that former Army Pvt. Margaret Ortiz had in the bank when she left Iraq is long gone, spent on alcohol and cocaine. By the time she found her way to a program run by the nonprofit U.S. Vets for homeless female veterans in this Southern California city, she'd slept in San Diego on the beach or anywhere she could find after a night of partying. One morning, she woke up behind a trash bin, her pants torn, with no memory of what happened. Instead of helping her forget her six months in Iraq, where she said she faced attacks on her compound and sexual harassment from fellow soldiers, the alcohol and drugs brought flashbacks and raging blackouts. She said ...
100,000 children have been saved by Afghan war, says Brown
Post Date: 2009-12-16 13:31:53 by christine
7 Comments
Gordon Brown wears a helmet and body armour as he leaves 'Little Heathrow' at Kandahar airbase yesterday. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images Gordon Brown claimed today that the lives of 100,000 children had been saved as a result of the intervention of Britain and other Nato countries in Afghanistan. The prime minister made his claim in a Downing Street webchat ahead of an announcement that the Ministry of Defence will make big defence cuts as part of an attempt to shift resources to the frontline in Afghanistan. Ministers will today announce a £150m package to tackle the threat of roadside bombs in Afghanistan, including the establishment of new specialist training ...
Security Experts: Administration Overstates Domestic al-Qaeda Threat - Critics Question Necessity of Afghan War Escalation for Security at Home
Post Date: 2009-12-14 21:12:23 by Jethro Tull
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UK court 'issued warrant for Livni'
Post Date: 2009-12-14 19:43:04 by tom007
2 Comments
UK court 'issued warrant for Livni' Livni served as Israel's foreign minister during the country's war in Gaza earlier this year [REUTERS] A British court reportedly issued an arrest warrant for Israel's former foreign minister on charges relating to Israel's 22-day war on Gaza, before apparently withdrawing it after it was found she was not in the country. Tzipi Livni, the leader of the opposition Kadima party, had been expected to travel to London this week for an event organised by the Jewish National Fund, followed by meetings with British government officials. Livni cancelled the visit two weeks before the event was due to take place. Israeli media reported ...
CIA admits Blackwater presence in Pakistan (Scouting For Wedding Parties)
Post Date: 2009-12-14 16:13:52 by tom007
3 Comments
Despite repeated denials, the CIA has now confirmed that US security contractor Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater, has been operating in Pakistan. CIA spokesman George Little said that agency Director Leon Panetta has terminated a contract with Xe services that allowed the company’s employees to load bombs on CIA drones at secret airfields in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Although the spokesman denied that Blackwater was currently involved in CIA operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan, his comments, contradicted past US assertions that the company does not operate in Pakistan. Other than the US administration, the Pakistani government and Xe itself had denied that the company ...
US to expand drone attacks into Pakistani cities
Post Date: 2009-12-14 13:16:24 by Horse
4 Comments
After confirmation that the CIA has been operating drone strikes in Pakistani territory, a new report says the US is seeking to expand the attacks into the country's cities. The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday that top US officials were pushing to expand the air strikes beyond Pakistan's tribal region and into the major city of Quetta to allegedly target the Taliban. Although the US and Pakistan have long been denying that the drones were taking off from Pakistani soil, the CIA confirmed on Saturday that US security contractor Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater, has been helping the agency to launch the attacks from within Pakistan. CIA spokesman George Little quoted ...
Guantanamo Detainee Deaths
Post Date: 2009-12-14 05:56:47 by Stephen Lendman
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Guantanamo Detainee Deaths - by Stephen Lendman Under the direction of Professor Mark Denbeaux, Seton Hall University School of Law's Center for Policy & Research (CP&R) published 15 "GTMO Reports," including profiles of detainees held, allegations against them, and discrepancies in government accounts explaining reasons for reported deaths. An earlier report analyzed unclassified government data (obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests) based on evidentiary summaries of 2004 military hearings on whether 517 detainees held at the time were "enemy combatants." Most were non-belligerents. In fact, a shocking 95% were seized randomly by bounty ...
Once Again, We’re Marching Into an Unwinnable War
Post Date: 2009-12-13 13:52:13 by F.A. Hayek Fan
6 Comments
Wet snow blankets the Military Academy Cemetery deep enough to discourage my usual trooping of the long, sorrowful line of headstones of those graduates who died in Vietnam. They’re in line along the back fence, these young men of the Classes of 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, and on and on and on. They were lieutenants and captains and even a few majors. They did their duty. They followed the orders of Kennedy or Johnson or Nixon or even Gerald Ford. They fought and died for duty, honor, and country, as have so many others of the long gray line who rest here or in Arlington or in other national cemeteries across this land. The sheer numbers of their marble markers along that back ...
Blogger: US air strikes kill ‘exactly 30 enemies every time
Post Date: 2009-12-12 12:44:20 by Horse
13 Comments
When it comes to air strikes against the Taliban, there's something about the number 30, says the Security Crank blog. The unnamed military affairs blogger has published a list of recent air strikes against militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and an amazing pattern has emerged: It seems that just about every time an air strike is reported in the news, the Taliban casualty figure cited is 30. Citing the Moon of Alabama blog, which made a similar argument this spring, Security Crank linked to 12 news reports of separate air strike incidents since the start of the year in which the number of Taliban or insurgent casualties was reported to be 30, in most cases citing US military ...
Fisk Video - Light On Our Sorry Times
Post Date: 2009-12-11 20:09:34 by tom007
1 Comments
Canada complicit in Afghan torture and war crimes
Post Date: 2009-12-11 07:38:11 by Tatarewicz
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Canadian politicians and military brass, in their enthusiasm for fighting Israel's wars and covering up reports of prisoner torture, have opened themselves up for charges of war crimes and bringing on increased attacks on Canadian soldiers. Richard Colvin, a Canadian diplomat in Afghanistan had warned that detainees captured by Canadians and turned over to Afghan police were taxi drivers and farmers who had nothing to do with the Taliban but their treatment by Afghan police turned people against Canadian forces, leading to more attacks on them. Human rights lawyers are looking into launching a complaint against Canada before international tribunals which investigate violations of the ...
Officials: Blackwater Participated in CIA ‘Snatch and Grab’ Operations
Post Date: 2009-12-11 05:55:20 by Ada
1 Comments
Line Between Military, CIA, and Blackwater 'Blurred' Intelligence officials and former Blackwater employees are confirming that the shadowy military contractor participated in “almost nightly” kidnapping raids in Iraq and Afghanistan, called “snatch and grab” operations by company insiders on behalf of the CIA. Erik Prince The relationship was so closed that officials say the line between military operations, those by the CIA, and those by the private security forces became completely blurred. The latest report comes just a week after Blackwater owner Erik Prince confirmed that his company permformed “very risky missions” for the CIA, giving the ...
Gherkas in Afgan
Post Date: 2009-12-10 20:38:32 by tom007
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