U.S. and the World
Obama Reverses Bush Policy on Mercury Pollution
Throughout its eight years in power, the Bush administration stubbornly opposed U.S. involvement in any international treaty that would control mercury pollution. Mercury, most of which is generated by coal-fueled power plants, settles in the ocea... read more
87,000 U.S. Weapons Missing in Afghanistan
An audit report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed the disturbing fact that more than one third of the 242,203 small arms and light weapons shipped to the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police cannot be a... read more
Fighting the War in Afghanistan from a Computer in Nevada
Sitting in front of computer screens in a trailer truck in the Nevada desert, American soldiers pilot Predator unmanned aircrafts over the rooftops of targets in Afghanistan. As they watch live images of their target from the aircraft on their scr... read more
U.S.-Iran Relations: An Unexpected Glitch or Subtle Intrigue?
As the governments of the United States and Iran inch closer to direct talks, an unusual bump in the road may have been hit. In the middle of the crisis surrounding the holding of American hostages, the Carter administration broke diplomatic relat... read more
“Father of Islamic Bomb” Freed From House Arrest
Abdul Qadeer Khan, known as the “Father of the Islamic Bomb,” has been freed from house arrest in Pakistan after five years. Khan became notorious for having shared nuclear technology with the dictatorships of North Korea, Iran and Libya.
Khan... read more
Iraq’s Elections: Success with Worrisome Details
Most Americans appear to want to forget about the War in Iraq, as more immediate concerns, such as the failing economy, take precedent. Even in terms of national security, the situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan seem more relevant. So it was a ... read more
Bush Shoe Sculpture Gets the Boot
The day after it was unveiled, the Iraqi sculpture in honor of the man who threw his shoes at President Bush, has been taken down on the order of the provincial government. The shoe had been erected at an orphanage in Tikrit. The artist, Laith al-... read more
Norway Sells All Shares in US Maker of Cluster Bombs
Norway’s state-owned investment fund, which is worth about $300 billion and invests the nation’s surplus oil and gas revenues, announced that it is selling all of its shares in the American company, Textron, for ethical reasons. Although Textron i... read more
Sculpture in Iraq Immortalizes Bush
A sculpture of an enormous shoe has been erected in Iraq to honor the journalist who threw his shoes at ex-U.S. President George W. Bush. As he prepared to throw his shoes, Muntadar al-Zeidi, a TV journalist, shouted: “This is from the widows, the... read more
Obama Orders End to Torture and Secret Prisons
President Barack Obama took a major step in closing one of the darkest chapters in American history by ordering an end to the use of torture, and the closure of secret prisons and the prison at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. The decision to close Guantán... read more
And You Thought Guantánamo Was Bad
Four prisoners at the U.S. detention center at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan are asking to be given the same right to a fair trial as the prisoners at Guantánamo. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Guantánamo detainees have a constitution... read more
Obama Speech Censored in China
The Chinese Communist Party, accustomed to unqualified support from the administration of George W. Bush, was unnerved by parts of Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address and censored it for domestic consumption. When Obama spoke the line, “Recall that e... read more
Innocent Afghani Released from Guantánamo…after Almost 6 Years
Despite previous assurances that the only prisoners left at Guantánamo were hardcore terrorists, the Bush administration, in its last three months, released 24 of the 269 Guantánamo detainees. One, a 29-year-old Afghani named Haji Bismullah, was f... read more
Making a Profit from U.S. Fears in Afghanistan
Highlighting the catastrophic failure of the U.S.’s rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Report (PDF) (page 38), shows that of $512.9 million allocated to Medical clinics from 2002-2008, o... read more
Will Obama Release Secret Bush Torture Memos?
The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), the relatively unknown arm of the Justice Department (DOJ) with the vitally important job of defining the legal limits of executive power, released a number of previously classified legal opinions regarding the w... read more
What is Israel Trying to Hide?
Citing safety concerns, the Israeli military has barred foreign journalists’ access to Gaza, defying a mandate last week from the Israeli Supreme Court ordering that a small number of international journalists be allowed into Palestine. Yet despit... read more