U.S. and the World
Dead and Injured Contractors Not Included in Pentagon’s Casualty Lists
For years following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the media reported U.S. casualty figures released by the Department of Defense—which regularly excluded thousands of Americans from the publicized totals. Even though they were often engaged in dan... read more
Dead Foreigners are Good for Ratings, but Not Dead Americans: Dave Lindroff
Bringing out someone else’s dead, as long as they’re from another country, is fine on network television, writes Dave Lindroff at The Public Record. But forget about it if the deceased are Americans, especially those in uniform fighting terrorists... read more
Iraq Election Deteriorates as Leading Candidates are Banned
Seven hundred billion dollars and more than 4,200 American lives later, the government of Iraq is on the verge of conducting an election already being labeled illegitimate. Sunnis who once belonged to Saddam Hussein’s political party have been ban... read more
The End of the Army Humvee
In the early 1980s, the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or Humvee, replaced the Jeep as the U.S. Army’s primary all-purpose transport vehicle for soldiers, and eventually spawned a gaudy status symbol for the SUV-mad civilian world. Bu... read more
Did the Taliban Try to Stop Bin Laden Terror Attacks?
The long assumed relationship between Osama bin Laden and the Taliban is now being questioned because of declassified information from the State Department. As discussed in a journal published by the Combatting Terrorism Center at the U.S. Army’s ... read more
Illegal Immigrant Population in U.S. Declines For Second Year
Not only did economic growth and job opportunities plummet during the Great Recession, but so did illegal immigration. The Department of Homeland Security has released new statistics showing the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. fell f... read more
Iraq Expels Former and Current Blackwater Security Guards
Blackwater, the controversial security firm responsible for numerous shootings and deaths of civilians, has been kicked out of Iraq. About 250 former and current employees of the company, which now operates under the name Xe, were told they had se... read more
Billions of Dollars for Military Bases in Afghanistan
American tax dollars are being spent on the construction or maintenance of approximately 700 military or security bases in Afghanistan, raising questions about President Barack Obama’s promise to begin pulling out of the country next year. An asse... read more
MTV Mexico Cancels Airing of Controversial South Park Episode
Making fun of Mexico is okay, as long as it’s not aired in Mexico. The Mexican subsidiary of MTV decided recently not to broadcast an episode of South Park in which the president of Mexico, who resembled current leader Felipe Calderón but was not ... read more
Blackwater Mercenaries Rumored to Outnumber Local Police in Pakistani Capital
Leaders in Pakistan have been vehemently denying claims started by a religious leader that security company Xe, formerly Blackwater, has thousands of contractors working in the nation’s capital of Islamabad. Maulana Fazal-ur-Rahman, leader of Jami... read more
Americans Helped Corrupt African Leaders Spend Their Money in the U.S.
For some Americans it’s no questions asked. Bring your millions of dollars looted from foreign treasuries and spend lavishly in the United States, or simply stuff it into domestic bank accounts, including bundles of cash smuggled in on the perso... read more
Dying in Vain in Afghanistan
Eight American soldiers died last October trying to defend a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan that the military was already planning to give up. The troops were part of the 3rd Squadron of the 61st Cavalry Regiment stationed at Combat Outpost... read more
U.S. Finally Releases Names of 645 Prisoners in Afghanistan
Malang Zafar. Noor Agha. Fadi Ahmad. Zabit Yasin. Gulam Farooq. Shadi Khan. These are just a few of the more than 600 names of people detained in Afghanistan at the “other Guantánamo,” known officially as the Bagram Theater Internment Facility. Wh... read more
Press Freedom in China: From Bad to Worse
Calling 2009 a “tough year for press freedom in China,” the International Federation of Journalists says what little progress was made during the Summer Olympics in Beijing
evaporated after new restrictions were imposed by the government.
“Mu... read more
Military Dog Surge in Afghanistan
With the surge of thousands more U.S. soldiers into Afghanistan has come another influx of specially trained personnel: bomb-sniffing dogs. Canines by the hundreds may eventually be sent to help fight the war against the Taliban, which relies on i... read more
Airlines Show Worst Decline in Traffic in History
Last year wasn’t just bad for air travel—it was the worst ever, according to an airline trade association. Citing statistics for passengers and cargo, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said 2009 would go down in “history books as ... read more