Blackwater Withdraws from "The International Peace Operations Association"

October 12, 2007
Blackwater Withdraws from "The International Peace Operations Association"

WASHINGTON (AP) — Blackwater USA has ended an inquiry into the private security contractor's performance by withdrawing from an industry group that initiated the review after the company's guards were accused of killing 17 Iraqis in Baghdad last month.

The International Peace Operations Association said in a statement Friday that Blackwater withdrew its membership two days after the group decided to examine whether the contractor's "processes and procedures" complied with the group's code of conduct.

Is torture ever justified?

September 20, 2007
Is torture ever justified?

The answer in international law is categorical: no. As laid down in treaties such as the Geneva Conventions, the UN Convention against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the ban on torture or any cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is absolute, even in times of war. Along with genocide, torture is the only crime that every state must punish, no matter who commits it or where. Defenders of this blanket prohibition offer arguments that range from the moral (torture degrades and corrupts the society that allows it) to the practical (people will say anything under torture so the information they provide is unreliable anyway).

British guards 'assault and racially abuse' deporteess

October 5, 2007
British guards 'assault and racially abuse' deporteess

Hundreds of failed asylum-seekers deported from the United Kingdom have been beaten and racially abused by British escort teams who are paid to take them back to their home countries.

The scale of the alleged abuse has been uncovered in a joint investigation by The Independent and a group co-ordinating the representation and medical care of failed asylum-seekers.

A dossier of 200 cases, collated by doctors, lawyers, immigration centre visitors and campaign groups over the past two years, has unearthed shocking claims of physical and mental mistreatment of some of the most vulnerable people in our asylum system.

Blackwater Sued in US Courts

October 11, 2007
Blackwater Sued in US Courts

WASHINGTON - Families of Iraqis who died in a shooting involving Blackwater USA contractors in Baghdad sued the company Thursday, saying the firm violated U.S. law and fostered a culture of lawlessness among its employees.

The suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., says the contractor has been paid more than $1 billion by the U.S. government since 2001 and that the company violated the federal laws in the Sept. 16 killings.

Sliming Graeme Frost

October 12, 2007
Sliming Graeme Frost

The attack on Graeme's family was also quickly picked up by Rush Limbaugh, who is so important a player in the right-wing universe that he has had multiple exclusive interviews with Vice President Dick Cheney.

And the attempt to spin the media worked, to some extent: despite reporting that has thoroughly debunked the smears, a CNN report yesterday suggested that the Democrats had made "a tactical error in holding up Graeme as their poster child," and closely echoed the language of the e-mail from Mr. McConnell's office.

50 percent of Americans earn only 12.8% of all income

October 12, 2007
50 percent of Americans earn only 12.8% of all income

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The richest one percent of Americans earned a postwar record of 21.2 percent of all income in 2005, up from 19 percent a year earlier, reflecting a widening income disparity among different classes in the nation, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing new Internal Revenue Service data.

The data showed that the fortunes of the bottom 50 percent of Americans are worsening, with that group earning 12.8 percent of all income in 2005, down from 13.4 percent the year before, the paper said.

CIA inspector general under investigation

October 12, 2007
CIA inspector general under investigation

WASHINGTON - The work of the CIA's in-house investigator who found fault with the agency's handling of the Sept. 11 attacks is being subjected to an internal review, published reports say.

The move, which is highly unusual, has raised concerns that CIA Director Michael Hayden is trying to squelch the investigations of Inspector General John Helgerson, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times reported Friday, citing anonymous officials.

Helgerson has been aggressive in his investigations of the CIA, criticizing senior figures including former Director George Tenet and officers involved in the agency's detention of terrorist suspects.

Democrats Pass Bipartisan Bill To Stop War Profiteering

October 10, 2007
Democrats Pass Bipartisan Bill To Stop War Profiteering

By a vote of 375-3, the House has passed the War Profiteering Prevention Act, H.R. 400. The bill makes war profiteering a felony. If this legislation becomes law, anyone found guilty of profiting excessively from military action or reconstruction may be subject to 20 years in prison and fines up to $1 millionor as much as twice the illegal profits of their crime.

Last week, the Democratic Congress also passed legislation that would bring all United States government contractors in the Iraq war zone under the jurisdiction of American criminal law. The measure would require the F.B.I. to investigate any allegations of wrongdoing.

Marines Want Out Of Iraq

October 11, 2007
Marines Want Out Of Iraq

(CBS/AP) The Marine Corps is pushing to redeploy its forces from Iraq to Afghanistan to take the lead in combat operations there and essentially leave Iraq to the Army, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James T. Conway, raised the issue with Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week, the Times reported. Senior military and Pentagon officials said supporters of the proposal, including some in the Army, believe that such a realignment could allow both services to operate more efficiently in the face of strains on the separate forces.

UN: Prosecute Iraq's 'rogue' security guards

October 11, 2007
UN: Prosecute Iraq's 'rogue' security guards

BAGHDAD (AFP) — The UN called Thursday for rogue security guards in Iraq to be prosecuted for possible war crimes as Blackwater was handed a lawsuit in the US on behalf of victims of a deadly Baghdad shootout.

The legal position of private contractors, especially protective security details often used by foreign diplomats, is a hot-button issue in Iraq after two high-profile shooting incidents in the capital within a month.

UN Accuses US Contactors of War Crimes

October 13, 2007
UN Accuses US Contactors of War Crimes

BAGHDAD (AP) — U.N. officials in Iraq stepped up pressure on the United States on Thursday to prosecute any unjustified killings of Iraqi civilians by private security contractors, saying such killings could amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity if "done in cold blood."

While Americans are unlikely to face such charges, the words served as a harsh rebuke as outrage spreads over what many Iraqis perceive as overly aggressive behavior of the heavily armed foreigners protecting U.S. government-funded work.

US detains 860 children in Iraq

October 11, 2007
US detains 860 children in Iraq

BAGHDAD (AFP) — The US military is holding nearly 25,000 people in its prisons in Iraq, 860 of whom are under the age of 16, the general in charge of their detention said on Wednesday.

Eighty-three percent of inmates are Sunnis and 16 percent are Shiite, General Douglas Stone told a press conference in Baghdad.

Egyptians, Iranians, Saudis and Syrians number among 280 foreign nationals imprisoned by the US military in Iraq, he said.

Tortured logic, tortured result

October 8, 2007
Tortured logic, tortured result

Critics cheered when the Bush administration did an about-face and disavowed torture as a government-sanctioned policy. In 2004, the Justice Department repudiated the infamous torture memos written after 9/11, and the president earnestly declared: "The United States does not torture." Mr. Bush even signed a bill whose authors believed would outlaw torture. It turns out, however, that there was nothing to cheer about.

Clever semantics

Reports now indicate that while the administration was paying lip service to the idea of abiding by anti-torture statutes, it was doing something else behind the scenes. First, it jettisoned officials in the Department of Justice who didn't agree with it. Then the administration welcomed a new lawyer to head the Office of Legal Counsel, Steven G. Bradbury, who was happy to comply with the wishes of his superiors. Under the tenure of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Mr. Bradbury wrote two new secret memos that gave superiors what they wanted -- a way around the law.

Democratic Concessions Are Expected on Wiretapping

October 8, 2007
Democratic Concessions Are Expected on Wiretapping

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 — Two months after vowing to roll back broad new wiretapping powers won by the Bush administration, Congressional Democrats appear ready to make concessions that could extend some of the key powers granted to the National Security Agency.

Bush administration officials say they are confident they will win approval of the broadened wiretapping authority that they secured temporarily in August as Congress rushed toward recess, and some Democratic officials admit that they may not come up with the votes to rein in the administration.

US Embassy opening in Baghdad delayed indefinitely

October 9, 2007
US Embassy opening in Baghdad delayed indefinitely

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack rejected claims of inadequate oversight and said there was no indication how long it would be before the new embassy opened.

"I can't tell you when the embassy is going to open," said McCormack. "We don't have an answer."

Congress originally allocated nearly $600 million to build the biggest U.S. Embassy in the world but Waxman said the project was now $144 million over that budget.

In addition, he said new documents showed hundreds of violations of fire codes and other regulations and electrical problems throughout the complex.

Saudi Gitmo detainees get gift

October 6, 2007
Saudi Gitmo detainees get gift

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- The Saudi Arabian government will temporarily release 55 prisoners recently transferred from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and will give each of them about $2,600 to celebrate the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz granted the temporary releases from detention centers in Saudi Arabia so the prisoners could spend time with their families during the holiday in mid-October, the Okaz newspaper reported.

"U.S. Protections and Investigations" Under Investigation

October 9, 2007
"U.S. Protections and Investigations" Under Investigation

The officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com that the investigation involves allegations of fraudulent overbilling against U.S. Protections and Investigations (USPI) of Houston, Texas.

The company has a multi-million-dollar contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide security for U.S.-funded road building projects in Afghanistan.

The company has also received millions of dollars to train Iraqi SWAT teams and parliamentary security in Baghdad, according to government contracting data.

"Unity Resources Group" Kills Two Iraqi Women

October 10, 2007
"Unity Resources Group" Kills Two Iraqi Women

(CBS/AP) Security firm Unity Resources Group confirmed Wednesday that its guards were involved in shootings that left two Iraqi women dead, saying they feared a suicide attack when they opened fire on the car at an intersection in central Baghdad.

Weeping mourners, meanwhile, demanded justice at a funeral for Marou Awanis and Geneva Jalal, the two Armenian Christian women who died Tuesday in the second shooting of civilians involving a security firm linked to U.S. government-financed work in Iraq in less than a month.

Unity provides armed guards and security training throughout Iraq. Its heavily armed teams are Special Forces veterans from Australia, the United States, New Zealand and Britain - as well as former law enforcement officers from those countries.

Global greenhouse gas emissions already beyond 'worst-case' scenario

October 9, 2007
Global greenhouse gas emissions already beyond 'worst-case' scenario

SYDNEY, Australia: Strong worldwide economic growth has accelerated the level of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere to a dangerous threshold scientists had not expected for another decade, according to a leading Australian climate change expert.

Scientist Tim Flannery said a report by the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change due to be released in November will contain new data showing that the level of climate-changing gases in the atmosphere has already reached critical levels.

Has the US Ceded Southern Iraq?

October 7, 2007
Has the US Ceded Southern Iraq?

Small contingents of U.S. soldiers enter Karbala and Najaf only for brief visits with local officials these days, and much of the rest of southern Iraq has no American troops at all. Focused on saving Baghdad, U.S. forces keep up a regular presence with patrols and combat outposts chiefly around the southern reaches of the capital. Meanwhile, the drawdown of British forces in Basra — where the troops have relocated to the local airport outside the city — leaves yet another southern city, with a population of roughly 2 million, unattended by the U.S.-led coalition. That means virtually all of the vast, populous and oil-rich territory stretching from Karbala to Basra is up for grabs.

Foreclosure Filings Nearly Double

October 11, 2007
Foreclosure Filings Nearly Double

Foreclosure filings across the U.S. nearly doubled last month compared with September 2006, as financially strapped homeowners already behind on mortgage payments defaulted on their loans or came closer to losing their homes to foreclosure, a real estate information company said Thursday.

A total of 223,538 foreclosure filings were reported in September, up from 112,210 in the same month a year ago, according to Irvine-based RealtyTrac Inc.

Iraq Coalition by the numbers

October 9, 2007
Iraq Coalition by the numbers

A look at troop numbers in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq:

ALBANIA: 120 non-combat soldiers, mainly patrolling airport in Mosul; no plans to withdraw.

ARMENIA: 46, serving as medics, engineers and transport drivers under Polish command; mission extended to end of 2007.

AUSTRALIA: 550, training security forces in two southern provinces; no plans to withdraw.

AZERBAIJAN: 150, mostly guarding dam near Hadid; no plans to withdraw.

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: 36, including three teams of 10 officers and command team of six.

BRITAIN: 5,000, based in southern Iraq; Prime Minister Gordon Brown says 2,500 to go home by spring.

BULGARIA: 155, guarding refugee camp north of Baghdad.

CZECH REPUBLIC: 100; government working on plan for gradual withdrawal but no timetable.

EL SALVADOR: 300, doing peacekeeping and humanitarian work in southern city of Kut; cuts expected as situation improves.

ESTONIA: 35, serving under U.S. command in Baghdad area.

GEORGIA: about 2,000, based in Kut; to be cut to around 300 by next summer.

KAZAKHSTAN: 27 military engineers; no plans to withdraw.

MACEDONIA: 40, based in Taji, north of Baghdad.

MOLDOVA: 11 bomb-defusing experts.

MONGOLIA: 160; no plans to withdraw.

NETHERLANDS: 15, part of NATO mission training police, army officers; no plans to withdraw.

POLAND: 900 non-combat soldiers, providing command for multinational force south of Baghdad; decision on withdrawal will wait until after 2008 U.S. election.

ROMANIA: About 600, most in south under British command, few dozen military intelligence officers serving north of Baghdad; no plans for withdrawal.

SLOVENIA: Four instructors training Iraqi security forces.

SOUTH KOREA: 1,200, based in northern city of Irbil; government assessing whether to extend mission.

UNITED STATES: Approximately 168,000; President Bush's plans to reduce that to at least 130,000 by next summer.

Alberto Gonzales hires defense attorney

October 11, 2007

Alberto Gonzales hires defense attorney

WASHINGTON - Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has hired a high-powered Washington lawyer to represent him in investigations of mismanagement of the Justice Department. George Terwilliger, a white-collar crime defense attorney and the second-ranking Justice official in the early 1990s, was on the White House's short list last month to replace Gonzales.

Investigators are look into allegations that Gonzales lied to lawmakers and illegally allowed politics to influence hiring and firing at the department.

State Dept. may phase out Blackwater

October 11, 2007
State Dept. may phase out Blackwater

WASHINGTON - The State Department may phase out or limit the use of private security guards in Iraq, which could mean canceling Blackwater USA's contract or awarding it to another company in line with an Iraqi government demand, The Associated Press has learned.

Such steps would be difficult given U.S. reliance on Blackwater and other contractors, but they are among options being studied during a comprehensive review of security in Iraq, two senior officials said.

The review was ordered after a Sept. 16 incident in which Blackwater guards protecting a U.S. Embassy convoy in Baghdad are accused of killing 17 Iraqi civilians.

Supreme Court refuses torture case

October 9, 2007
Supreme Court refuses torture case

WASHINGTON - A German man who says he was abducted and tortured by the CIA as part of the anti-terrorism rendition program lost his final chance Tuesday to persuade U.S. courts to hear his claims.

The Supreme Court rejected without comment an appeal from Khaled el-Masri, effectively endorsing Bush administration arguments that state secrets would be revealed if courts allowed the case to proceed.

El-Masri, 44, a German citizen of Lebanese descent, says he was mistakenly identified as an associate of the Sept. 11 hijackers and was detained while attempting to enter Macedonia on New Year's Eve 2003.

Democrats positioned to widen majority in Senate

October 7, 2007
Democrats positioned to widen majority in Senate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats are positioned to bolster their Senate majority in next year's elections, which would give them more clout regardless who succeeds President George W. Bush in the White House.

With Republicans dogged by retirements, scandals and the Iraq war, there's an outside chance Democrats will gain as many as nine seats in the 100-member Senate in the November 2008 elections, which would give them a pivotal 60.

Analyst Warns Against Partitioning Iraq

October 11, 2007
Analyst Warns Against Partitioning Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) — Limiting the power of Iraq's central government and giving more control to ethnically divided regions might lead to large-scale violence and intervention by neighboring countries, an analyst says.

Such programs sometimes are federalism or "soft partition." Their adoption could mean widespread bloodletting and "local atrocities seem all too likely," according to Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Political instability could ensue and Iraq's economic development could be crippled, said Cordesman, a former director of intelligence assessment at the Pentagon.

Leak Severed a Link to Al-Qaeda's Secrets

October 9, 2007
Leak Severed a Link to Al-Qaeda's Secrets

A small private intelligence company that monitors Islamic terrorist groups obtained a new Osama bin Laden video ahead of its official release last month, and around 10 a.m. on Sept. 7, it notified the Bush administration of its secret acquisition. It gave two senior officials access on the condition that the officials not reveal they had it until the al-Qaeda release.

Within 20 minutes, a range of intelligence agencies had begun downloading it from the company's Web site. By midafternoon that day, the video and a transcript of its audio track had been leaked from within the Bush administration to cable television news and broadcast worldwide.

Judge Radhi Testifies about Iraqi Corruption; GOPers Attack

October 5, 2007
Judge Radhi Testifies about Iraqi Corruption; GOPers Attack

But Radhi in his testimony reiterated what he said in an interview with me several weeks ago: corruption is "rampant" within Iraq (perverting virtually every ministry and costing tens of billions of dollars); it's undermining the entire government and has "stopped the process of reconstruction"; Maliki has consistently blocked corruption investigations (especially probes involving his associates and family); in some instances corruption is "financing terrorism" by funding sectarian militias; and the situation is getting worse. Radhi noted that of the 3000 corruption cases his commission investigated and forwarded to Iraqi courts for prosecution, only 241 have been adjudicated. Also appearing as a witness at the hearing, Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, echoed Radhi, testifying that corruption within the Iraqi government is the "second insurgency." Bowen reported that corruption is on the rise in Iraq--partly due to Maliki's protection of crooked officials. He quoted one Iraqi official who said that "corruption is threatening the state."

Government leak ruined Al-Qaeda monitoring

October 9, 2007
Government leak ruined Al-Qaeda monitoring

WASHINGTON - A leak from the White House or US spy agencies about a video from Osama bin Laden sabotaged a private intelligence firm's secret ability to intercept Al-Qaeda communications, the Washington Post reported today.

The Post said that SITE Intelligence Group had covertly developed access over several years to Al-Qaeda's communications network but that the access was lost after the administration of President George W.

Bush’s torturers follow where the Nazis led

October 7, 2007
Bush’s torturers follow where the Nazis led

From almost the beginning of the war, it is now indisputable, the Bush administration made a strong and formative decision: in the absence of good intelligence on the Islamist terror threat after 9/11, it would do what no American administration had done before. It would torture detainees to get information.

This decision was and is illegal, and violates America's treaty obligations, the military code of justice, the United Nations convention against torture, and US law. Although America has allied itself over the decades with some unsavoury regimes around the world and has come close to acquiescing to torture, it has never itself tortured. It has also, in liberating the world from the evils of Nazism and communism, and in crafting the Geneva conventions, done more than any other nation to banish torture from the world. George Washington himself vowed that it would be a defining mark of the new nation that such tactics, used by the British in his day, would be anathema to Americans.

Blackwater Offical: We're creating terrorists

October 6, 2007
Blackwater Offical: We're creating terrorists

"Where do you all expect them to go?" I shrieked. "It was an old guy and a family, for goodness' sake. Was it necessary for them to destroy their poor old car?"

My driver responded impassively: "Ma'am, we've been trained to view anyone as a potential threat. You don't know who they might use as decoys or what the risks are. Terrorists could be disguised as anyone."

"Well, if they weren't terrorists before, they certainly are now!" I retorted. Sulking in my seat, I was stunned by the driver's indifference.

The truth about conservatism

October 7, 2007
The truth about conservatism

There have been a number of articles recently that portray President Bush as someone who strayed from the path of true conservatism. Republicans, these articles say, need to return to their roots.

Well, I don't know what true conservatism is, but while doing research for my forthcoming book I spent a lot of time studying the history of the American political movement that calls itself conservatism — and Mr. Bush hasn't strayed from the path at all. On the contrary, he's the very model of a modern movement conservative.

For example, people claim to be shocked that Mr. Bush cut taxes while waging an expensive war. But Ronald Reagan also cut taxes while embarking on a huge military buildup.

Charge It to My Kids

October 7, 2007
Charge It to My Kids

Every so often a quote comes out of the Bush administration that leaves you asking: Am I crazy or are they? I had one of those moments last week when Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, was asked about a proposal by some Congressional Democrats to levy a surtax to pay for the Iraq war, and she responded, "We've always known that Democrats seem to revert to type, and they are willing to raise taxes on just about anything."

Yes, those silly Democrats. They'll raise taxes for anything, even — get this — to pay for a war!

And if we did raise taxes to pay for our war to bring a measure of democracy to the Arab world, "does anyone seriously believe that the Democrats are going to end these new taxes that they're asking the American people to pay at a time when it's not necessary to pay them?" added Ms. Perino. "I just think it's completely fiscally irresponsible."

Friends, we are through the looking glass. It is now "fiscally irresponsible" to want to pay for a war with a tax. These democrats just don't understand: the tooth fairy pays for wars. Of course she does — the tooth fairy leaves the money at the end of every month under Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's pillow. And what a big pillow it is! My God, what will the Democrats come up with next? Taxes to rebuild bridges or schools or high-speed rail or our lagging broadband networks? No, no, the tooth fairy covers all that. She borrows the money from China and leaves it under Paulson's pillow.

National Guard Troops Denied Benefits After Longest Deployment Of Iraq War

October 3, 2007
National Guard Troops Denied Benefits After Longest Deployment Of Iraq War

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (NBC) -- When they came home from Iraq, 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard had been deployed longer than any other ground combat unit. The tour lasted 22 months and had been extended as part of President Bush's surge.

1st Lt. Jon Anderson said he never expected to come home to this: A government refusing to pay education benefits he says he should have earned under the GI bill.

"It's pretty much a slap in the face," Anderson said. "I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership... once again failing the soldiers."

Anderson's orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days.

Had they been written for 730 days, just one day more, the soldiers would receive those benefits to pay for school.

Iraqi probe implicates Blackwater

October 4, 2007
Iraqi probe implicates Blackwater

BAGHDAD - The official Iraqi investigation into the Blackwater shooting last month recommends that the security guards face trial in Iraqi courts and that the company compensate the victims, an Iraqi government minister told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The three-member panel, led by Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi, determined that Blackwater guards sprayed western Baghdad's Nisoor Square with gunfire Sept. 16 without provocation, Minister of State for National Security Sherwan al-Waili told AP.

G.O.P. Contenders Endorse Health Insurance Veto

October 5, 2007
G.O.P. Contenders Endorse Health Insurance Veto

The four leading Republican presidential candidates have aligned themselves with President Bush's veto on Wednesday of an expanded health insurance program for children, once again testing the political risk of appearing in lock step with a president who has low approval ratings and some critics of the veto within their party.

"You need to decide where you are on any given issue — not necessarily where the president is — and go from there," Mr. Galen said. "Democrats can say this is a Bush veto or a Bush position, but Republicans don't even mention that because it doesn't make sense to talk that way to Republican primary voters right now."

Ex-Investigator Details Iraqi Corruption

October 5, 2007
Ex-Investigator Details Iraqi Corruption

The Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has thwarted investigations into corruption at the top levels of his administration, including probes of his relatives, while nearly four dozen anti-corruption employees or their family members have been brutally murdered, the former top Iraqi corruption investigator told a House panel yesterday.

Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, the former commissioner of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, has sought asylum in the United States, according to Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Radhi said his investigators had uncovered "rampant" corruption in Iraqi ministries that had cost the country as much as $18 billion, but only 241 cases, out of 3,000 forwarded to the courts, had been adjudicated.

17 Iraqi Civilians Killed by US

October 2, 2007
17 Iraqi Civilians Killed by US

American-led coalition forces in Iraq are so far not commenting on eyewitness claims that women and children are among the dead following the enemy engagement near Baquba, 60km north of the capital Baghdad.

"Seventeen people were killed, 27 were wounded and eight are missing including women and children," an unnamed Iraqi government official told al-Jazeera.

No Murder Charges After Haditha Massacre

October 4, 2007
No Murder Charges After Haditha Massacre

It was called the Haditha massacre: 24 Iraqis killed and four Marines charged with murder. But now the case against those Marines appears to be falling apart.

The investigating officer in the case recommended Wednesday that the most serious charges be dropped. If the officer's recommendation is accepted -- and it usually is -- nobody will face murder charges in connection with an incident that left 24 Iraqis dead.

Senate Extends Protections to Gays, Lesbians in Hate Crimes Act

September 27, 2007
Senate Extends Protections to Gays, Lesbians in Hate Crimes Act

Senators voted Thursday morning to give the federal government more jurisdiction to prosecute hate crimes and included protections for gay, lesbian and transgender victims, attaching the measure to an annual defense policy bill.

Sixty Senators -- just enough to override a Republican filibuster -- voted to attach the Matthew Shepard Act, named for the gay Wyoming college student murdered in 1998, as an amendment to the 2008 Department of Defense authorization bill. The measure was sponsored by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Gordon Smith, R-Ore.

Limbaugh Latest Target in War of Condemnation

October 3, 2007
Limbaugh Latest Target in War of Condemnation

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 — Having abandoned for now their effort to force President Bush to withdraw troops from Iraq, Democrats are not giving ground against a lesser nemesis: Rush Limbaugh.

With the help of liberal advocacy groups, the Democrats in Congress are turning Mr. Limbaugh´s insinuation that members of the military who question the Iraq war are "phony soldiers" into the latest war of words over the war.

A resolution introduced by 20 Democrats urges the House to condemn the "unwarranted slur" made by Mr. Limbaugh, though it does not condemn the broadcaster himself.

Blackwater to guard FBI team probing it

October 3, 2007
Blackwater to guard FBI team probing it

WASHINGTON - When a team of FBI agents lands in Baghdad this week to probe Blackwater security contractors for murder, it will be protected by bodyguards from the very same firm, the Daily News has learned.

Half a dozen FBI criminal investigators based in Washington are scheduled to travel to Iraq to gather evidence and interview witnesses about a Sept. 16 shooting spree that left at least 11 Iraqi civilians dead.

The agents plan to interview witnesses within the relative safety of the fortified Green Zone, but they will be transported outside the compound by Blackwater armored convoys, a source briefed on the FBI mission said.

"What happens when the FBI team decides to go visit the crime scene? Blackwater is going to have to take them there," the senior U.S. official told The News.

Record 2008 Cost of War: $189.3bln

October 1, 2007
Record 2008 Cost of War: $189.3bln

For the fifth time since 2001, Congress is raising the debt limit, increasing it by $850 billion to $9.815 trillion. The Senate approved the plan on a 53-42 vote Thursday night. The House of Representatives has already signed off on the plan, without a direct vote.

According to the folks who follow this stuff closely, the national debt has been rising by an average of $1.36 billion per day since September of last year.

And each citizen now has a share of nearly $30,000.

But Congress has an easy solution to deal with the mounting red ink. Instead of fretting over it, members simply allow the government to borrow more money, much to the consternation of some critics.

U.N. says Afghan violence up 30 percent

October 2, 2007
U.N. says Afghan violence up 30 percent

KABUL, Afghanistan - Violence in Afghanistan has surged nearly 30 percent this year and suicide bombings are inflicting a high toll on civilians, a new United Nations report says.

The report said Afghanistan is averaging 550 violent incidents a month, up from an average of 425 last year. It said three-fourths of suicide bombings are targeting international and Afghan security forces, but suicide bombers also killed 143 civilians through August.

Blackwater contractor wrote government report on incident

October 2, 2007
Blackwater contractor wrote government report on incident

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The State Department's initial report of last month's incident in which Blackwater guards were accused of killing Iraqi civilians was written by a Blackwater contractor working in the embassy security detail, according to government and industry sources.

The deadly incident produced an outcry in Iraq and raised questions about the accountability of foreign security contractors in Iraq, who, under an order laid down by the U.S.-led occupation government, are not subject to Iraqi law for actions taken within their contracts.

Anti-war veterans take to the air against Limbaugh

October 2, 2007
Anti-war veterans take to the air against Limbaugh

Anti-war veterans are not letting up on Rush Limbaugh, the radio talk show host who derisively spoke of "phony soldiers" last week during an on-air conversation with callers about people calling for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

A leading anti-war veterans coalition is taking out television ads on Fox News and CNN Wednesday and Thursday. The ads feature a wounded veteran saying: "More and more troops and veterans of Iraq believe George Bush's military policy has been a disaster."

General Petraeus wins a battle in Washington—if not in Baghdad

October 8, 2007
General Petraeus wins a battle in Washington—if not in Baghdad

The critics make a good case. Yet let us ignore them. Let us assume instead that Petraeus genuinely believes that he has broken the code in Iraq and that things are improving. Let's assume further that he is correct in that assessment.

What then should he have recommended to the Congress and the president? That is, if the commitment of a modest increment of additional forces —the 30,000 troops comprising the surge, now employed in accordance with sound counterinsurgency doctrine —has begun to turn things around, then what should the senior field commander be asking for next?

A single word suffices to answer that question: more. More time. More money. And above all, more troops.