U.S. and the World

Criticism Grows Over Nobel Prize Winner that Gave in to U.S. Bullying over Iraq

“By the end of December 2001, it became evident that the Americans were serious about getting rid of me,” he stated. “People were telling me, ‘They want your head.’” He said that Saddam Hussein’s government indicated two years before the U.S. invasion that Iraq was interested in joining the Chemical Weapons Convention, which OPCW oversees. That move would have required Iraq to allow inspectors to visit and verify that no such munitions existed. read more

NSA Bypasses U.S. Restrictions to Gather Americans’ Contact Lists and First Lines of Content

The NSA pulls in about 500,000 buddy lists on live-chat services, as well as from the inbox displays of Web-based email accounts, which also provide the agency with the first few lines of a message. This data collection has not been authorized by the U.S. Congress or by the FISA Court that is supposed to oversee the NSA’s activities. Therefore, in order to maneuver around the law, the NSA intercepts the data from non-U.S. telecommunications companies and foreign intelligence services read more

U.S.-Afghanistan Agreement Hinges on Immunity for American Troops

But Karzai insisted he could not unilaterally approve the deal with the immunity provision, saying tribal leaders would have to okay it. So the agreement must go before a Loya Jirga, which can include hundreds and as many as a thousand elders, leaders and other influential people. If the assembly does not approve the plan, the U.S. is unlikely to keep any forces in Afghanistan after 2014. read more

If Syria Can Destroy its Chemical Weapons, Shouldn’t the U.S. do the Same?

A Pentagon spokesperson stated that the U.S. government is reviewing Panama’s request and will resolve it “in a timely manner.” In negotiations this year at The Hague over Panama’s petition to have the U.S. clean up the munitions, U.S. officials reportedly requested one change to the document. They insisted that it say the U.S. did not “abandon” the weapons in Panama, but rather that it had “forgotten” about them. read more

Russia to Stop Fueling U.S. Nuclear Power with Uranium from its Disarmed Nuclear Warheads

Over the past 20 years, radioactive fuel from 20,000 disarmed Russian warheads was sold to the U.S. for about $8 billion. The U.S. government then turned around and provided it to commercial nuclear power plants to run their reactors and power electricity to millions of homes and businesses. During these two decades, 500 metric tons of Russian weapons-grade uranium has generated half of all nuclear power and, during the past 15 years, about 10% of all electricity produced in the U.S. read more

Scientists Boycott NASA Conference over Banning of Chinese Colleagues

The law, authored by U.S. Representative Frank Wolf (R-Virginia), chair of the House appropriations subcommittee that oversees NASA, restricts foreign nationals from NASA facilities in an effort to counter espionage. The conference at the center of the controversy will focus on NASA’s Kepler space telescope program, which searches the universe for other planetary systems. read more

Kidnapping Terror Suspects in Africa…U.S. Goes 1 for 2

Washington scored a hit when it captured an al-Qaeda mastermind accused of being responsible for the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa. But the administration also struck out when it sent the prize of U.S. Special Forces into Somalia to capture another wanted terror leader, and came away empty-handed. read more

Japanese Government Agrees to Spend $3 Billion to Boot U.S. Marines out of Okinawa

Members of the III Marine Expeditionary Force stationed on Okinawa won’t begin moving until sometime in the early 2020s. For many of the island’s residents, the move can’t come soon enough. Many Japanese have been calling for the U.S. to get off Okinawa for decades, particularly after American military personnel stationed on the island were convicted of raping a Japanese woman last year and gang-raping a 12-year-old Japanese girl in 1995. read more

U.K. University Takes Moral High Ground in Ending Its $2 Million Investment in U.S. Drones

The University of Edinburgh had a $2 million (£1.2 million) stake in Ultra Electronics, a British firm that manufactures navigation controls for Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles and ground control stations. Investing in drone development was deemed not “socially responsible” by the university as well as students and campaign groups that lobbied Edinburgh to pull out of the business. read more

Obama Overrides Ban on Providing Military Aid to 3 Governments Using Child Soldiers

Chad, South Sudan and Yemen were identified by the State Department as countries utilizing child soldiers, making them ineligible for American military aid under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 (pdf). But the law, which is intended to discourage nations from forcing children under the age of 18 to fight in wars, contains a national security interest waiver that authorizes the president to override the statute when deemed necessary. That’s what Obama did on Monday. read more

Foreign Critics of NSA Spying and U.S. Drone Warfare Barred from Entering U.S.

Bulgarian-German writer Ilija Trojanow, who was denied a visa by the State Department. No explanation was provided for why Trojanow did not receive clearance. It was noted in the German press that the award-winning writer had previously signed a protest petition against the National Security Agency’s surveillance activities. read more

High-Flying Lawmakers Spent Half of Their $3.3 Million in Free Travel on Summer Getaways

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) received a $22,230 trip to Ireland, compliments of the Franklin Center for Global Policy Exchange and the Ripon Society, who sponsored a conference on TransAtlantic Capital to Capital Exchange. The congressman was accompanied by his wife, as well as ten other House members and their spouses. Sixty-three others traveled to Israel for an education seminar, which was paid for by the American-Israel Foundation. read more

State Department Blocks Lawyer of U.S. Drone Strike Survivors from Testifying Before Congress

Akbar, a legal fellow with the British human rights group Reprieve and the director of the Pakistan-based Foundation for Fundamental Rights, represents more than 150 survivors of drone attacks and their family members in a lawsuit filed against Central Intelligence Agency and government officials in Pakistan. Akbar told The Guardian, “Before I started drone investigations I never had an issue with US visa. In fact, I had a US diplomatic visa for two years.” read more

Israeli Terror Victims Given Go-Ahead to Sue Bank of China in U.S.

In a unanimous decision, a New York state appeals court sided with 50 citizens and residents of Israel who sued the Bank of China after they or their families were victimized by terrorist acts committed by Palestine Islamic Jihad and Hamas between 2005 and 2007. The government of China has majority ownership of the bank. The plaintiffs sued the Bank of China in New York alleging it had handled international fund transfers that helped pay for the terrorist actions. read more

Forgotten Victims of Agent Orange: Vietnamese-Americans

U.S. military veterans who fought in Vietnam decades ago are entitled today to government-paid disability benefits and health care if they suffer from exposure to Agent Orange, an herbicide widely used during the conflict. But the same coverage is not available to the Vietnamese enduring the same effects from Agent Orange after fighting alongside American soldiers, and who later immigrated to the U.S. read more

Furor Erupts over Obama Claim that He is Powerless to Stop Mass Immigrant Deportations

Obama appeared on Telemundo, a Spanish-language network, claiming it was “not an option” to freeze deportations, estimated at more than 1,000 per day, because to do so “would be ignoring the law in a way that would be very difficult to defend legally.” Immigration reform leaders soundly rejected Obama’s remarks. read more