Will Obama Veto Pork, or Enable It?

On Aug. 17 at the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Phoenix, President Barack Obama gave waste and pork in the defense budget a thorough tongue-lashing. It was well said, but also a little pathetic if you consider what the porkers in Congress are up to. The words flew high:...

read more

Tuesday: 4 Iraqis Killed, 13 Wounded

Updated at 6:20 p.m. EDT, Sept. 15, 2009 U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced trip. Meanwhile, Iraqi and Syrian officials will meet in Ankara to discuss allegations that recent bombings in Baghdad were orchestrated from Syria. Elsewhere, Military police are investing an allegation that British soldiers raped and maimed an Iraqi man in Basra six years ago. Also, Muntadhar al-Zeidi has been released from jail. At least four Iraqis were killed and 13 more were wounded in light violence.
read more

Death by Bananastan

I keep finding further proof that our ever increasing but directionless escalation of the Bananastan* conflict is the maddest military misadventure in human history. A former colleague recently sent me information regarding the newly formed Pakistan Afghanistan...

read more

Unrest Brewing Beneath Gaza Calm

GAZA CITY - The mile-long stretch that divides Israel's Erez border crossing into northern Gaza from the Hamas police border post is eerily quiet. But the mountains of rubble, twisted metal, and craters which remain following Israel's intensive bombing campaign in...

read more

IAEA Conceals Evidence Iran Documents Were Forged

The International Atomic Energy Agency says its present objective regarding Iran is to try to determine whether the intelligence documents purportedly showing a covert Iranian nuclear weapons program from 2001 to 2003 are authentic or not. The problem, according to...

read more

What Price Afghanistan?

Has the U.S. lost the Afghan war, even before President Obama's "surge" is plugged in and the "COIN" strategy is put in place? "Clear, hold, and build": – that's the "new" counterinsurgency doctrine [.pdf] being touted by the...

read more

Sunday: 1 US Contractor, 26 Iraqis Killed; 41 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 7:18 p.m. EDT, Sept. 13, 2009 The gruesome execution of a policeman’s family this morning in Kirkuk overshadowed the other numerous attacks in Iraq. Overall, at least 26 Iraqis were killed and 41 more were wounded across the country. Also, a U.S. soldier killed an American contractor at a U.S. base in Tikrit. The soldier is in custody.
read more