Updated at 8:40 p.m. EST, Nov. 18, 2009
At least four Iraqis were killed and six more were wounded in light violence. Meanwhile, U.S. General Ray Odierno warned that al-Qaeda in Iraq is becoming less dominated by foreigners as Iraqis take over the group. Also, four U.S. servicemembers were removed from the military following their convinctions in the murder of an Iraqi man.
read moreAfghanistan, Iraq Near Bottom of Corruption Index
Despite billions of dollars spent by the U.S. and other countries to improve governance in Afghanistan and Iraq, the two countries remain among the world's most corrupt nations, according to the latest edition of Transparency International's (TI) Corruption...
Civilian Trials for 9/11 Suspects Aren’t Enough
The Obama administration's decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and four alleged co-conspirators in civilian court is a laudable return to the rule of law from the Bush administration's kangaroo...
Our National Cognitive Dissonance
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on the Sunday gab circuit that rooting al-Qaeda out from Afghanistan is...
Judge Warns of Israel’s Two-Tier Legal System
An Israeli judge made a historic ruling last week when he decided that an Arab teenager needed "protection" from the justice system and ordered that he not be convicted despite being found guilty of throwing stones at a police car during a protest against...
Army Underreporting Suicides, Says GI Advocacy Group
According to a soldiers' advocacy group at Fort Hood, the U.S. base where an army psychiatrist has been charged with killing 13 people and wounding 30 in a Nov. 5 rampage, the official suicide figures provided by the Army are "definitely" too low. Chuck Luther served...
Iran Began Preparing for US Bombing in 2002
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published new evidence Monday that Iran had been building "contingency centers" in the event of a U.S. bombing attack as early as 2002, years before it began building the second enrichment facility at Qom. But...
Afghanistan as a Patronage Machine
It's now a commonplace of the Afghan War. Western leaders in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Washington, as well as on flying visits to Kabul or even Kandahar, excoriate Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the "corruption" of his government. In return for their ongoing...
Our Chief Industry: War
We often hear the complaint that America doesn't make anything anymore: that is, our economy seems driven not by producing actual things, but utterly intangible creations such as credit default swaps and securitized sub-prime mortgages. Our once-bustling factories are...
Tuesday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 25 Wounded
Updated at 8:24 p.m. EST, Nov. 17, 2009
At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 25 more were wounded in new attacks. Perhaps in hope of further reducing violence, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered security forces to allow citizens to keep one piece of light arms in their homes.
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