ACLU Calls for Release of Three Secret Torture Memos - December 09, 2007
The American Civil Liberties Union is in court today calling for the release of three documents issued by the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) that are believed to have authorized the CIA to use extremely harsh interrogation methods. The government failed to identify or provide the memos, which were issued in May of 2005, in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by the ACLU requesting information on U.S. treatment and interrogation of detainees. Read more
New Anthrax Vaccine Doomed by Lobbying - December 05, 2007
America's sole supplier faced oblivion if its rival's product was adopted. It was time to call on political connections. Read more
Veterans Benefits Reforms Hung Up In Senate - November 17, 2007
A Senate committee’s vote on Wednesday to approve four veterans’ health care bills was just as important for what did not pass. Read more
Rep. Mitchell Vows Hearings on Lucrative Bonuses to Top VA Officials - May 03, 2007
U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell today said he will hold Congressional hearings to examine reports that top Department of Veterans Affairs officials were paid the "most lucrative" bonuses in government at the same time they may have "deliberately misled taxpayers" in an effort "to justify Bush administration cuts to health care amid a burgeoning Iraq war." Read more
Senators Seek Major Improvements in Medical Care for Wounded Warriors - May 03, 2007
U.S. Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) today introduced legislation to ensure the medical needs of wounded servicemen and women are properly met and that bureaucracy does not interfere with their progress. The Senators – both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee – introduced the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007 to improve the access and quality of health care our military personnel receive. Read more
Senators Introduce National Guard Reintegration Bill - May 03, 2007
Legislation creates a national reintegration program for returning Guard troops and their families. Read more
Kingston GI brought home hidden injuries - April 20, 2006
When 23-year-old Michael Torok returned home to DeKalb County in September 2004 after serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, he had more health issues than anyone had suspected. Read more
Why Are They Speaking Up Now? - April 20, 2006
The retired general officers who have recently called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld want to convince the public that civilian control has silenced military wisdom regarding the war in Iraq.....while their advice and the weight of their experience should be taken into account, the important time for them to weigh in was while they were on active duty. Read more
A Case for Accountability - April 20, 2006
This dismissive attitude has frayed long-standing alliances with our allies inside and outside NATO, alliances that are fundamental to our security and to ... Read more
Ex-soldier gets help in battle with Army - April 20, 2006
"Reggie Tyler should not be in this position," said Reed, a former Marine Corps officer. "Part of the contract we, as a nation, have with enlisted personnel is that if they are injured or become ill while in the military we'll take care of them. In this case, the country isn't doing that and that's outrageous." Read more
Anthrax escaped at Army lab in '01, '02 - April 20, 2006
The Army's biological weapons defense laboratory at Fort Detrick probably had multiple episodes of anthrax contamination as workers strove to process a flood of samples sent there for testing in 2001 and 2002, an internal report says Read more
When Our Troops Come Home - April 20, 2006
Everyone knew that the war zone was a hellish place. Yet, as hard as it was for the soldiers going back, it may have been even harder for those coming home Read more
Baghdad Slipping Into Civil War - April 20, 2006
The new clashes between Shia militiamen dressed in Iraqi military and police uniforms and resistance fighters and residents from the Sunni Adhamiya district of Baghdad have convinced many that what Baghdad is witnessing is no less than a civil war. Read more
U.S. soldier finds Iraq progress comes slow - April 20, 2006
And it means that victory here, if it is to be won, will be incremental and agonizingly amorphous: one road, one electrical project, one cup of tea at a time.Many things are not clear, and sometimes nothing is. Such is Iraq. Read more
The Worst President in History? - April 20, 2006
George W. Bush's presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace Read more
The war was right but the occupation has been a disaster: Rumsfeld must pay - April 20, 2006
AS THE THIRD anniversary of the Iraq war passes, as President Bush plumbs depths of unpopularity untouched even by Richard Nixon during Watergate, and Tony Blair, a lame duck leader, waddles off to the anti-climax of a career that will be blighted forever by his backing of the war, let me confess: I supported the invasion of Iraq. Read more
Iran president suggests West ain't seen nothing yet in high oil prices - April 20, 2006
"The global oil price has not reached its real value yet. The products derived from crude oil are sold at prices dozens of times higher than those charged by oil-producing countries," Ahmadinejad ... Gheit noted, however, there is some truth in Ahmadinejad's comment on developed countries benefitting most from increased oil prices, though the statement would likely be seen as an attempt at "fanning the flames" of a red-hot oil market Read more
Afghan poppy growers want protection from Cdn forces - April 19, 2006
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A large group of Afghan poppy farmers has handed Canadian soldiers an unusual offer, pledging not to grow the illicit flowers next year if they're allowed to harvest their poppy crop this year with no interference from Afghan officials intent on smashing the country's opium trade. Read more
500 Connecticut National Guard soldiers head to Afghanistan - April 19, 2006
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ State military officials announced Monday that 500 soldiers from a New Haven-based National Guard unit have been deployed to Afghanistan Read more
Kyrgyz Leader Threatens to Expel US Troops - April 19, 2006
The president of Kyrgyzstan threatened on Wednesday to expel American troops from the strategically located Central Asian nation unless the United States agrees to pay more for its military presence. Read more
Report: Blair will not back Iran strike - April 19, 2006
British government sources say the prime minister will support diplomatic moves, but not military actions Read more
U.S. botched war, defenders, foes say - April 19, 2006
war, critics and defenders appear to agree on one point: The war is not going as well as they expected Read more
Injured women put new face on war - April 19, 2006
Her body was maimed by war. Dawn Halfaker lay unconscious at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, her parents at her bedside and her future suddenly uncertain. A rocket-propelled grenade had exploded in her Humvee, ravaging her right arm and shoulder. Read more
Walz continues to receive national media attention - April 18, 2006
DFL congressional candidate Tim Walz gained national media attention recently when Wall Street Journal reporter David Rogers referred to Walz as “the Republican nightmare” in a piece entitled “Minnesota May be Tip of Political Iceberg.” Read more
Listen to the Brass - April 18, 2006
A warmhearted, emotional man, Murtha was responding, I suggested, to what he had experienced in those hospital wards.The unsolicited caller from the Pentagon identified himself by name and rank, then said, "This is a private call. I am not speaking officially. But I read your column, and I think it is important for you to know that Jack Murtha knows us very well and speaks for many of us." Read more
Afghan market sells US military flash drives - April 18, 2006
No more than 200 yards from the main gate of the sprawling U.S. base here, stolen computer drives containing classified military assessments of enemy targets, names of corrupt Afghan officials and descriptions of American defenses are on sale in the local bazaar Read more
Afghanistan's new militant alliances - April 18, 2006
The aim was to build a closer alliance to try and kill as many as possible of the 3,000 men who will form the British deployment to Helmand province next month. At the meeting was a man calling himself Abu Khalid Al Misir, representing al-Qaeda. He brought a message from Abu Musab Al Zarqawi offering support and expertise from the militants fighting in Iraq. He also urged more suicide attacks. "We have," he said "been washing the infidels with their blood, you should do the same. If Afghans defeated the Russians why not the Americans?" Read more
Opinion: Much Ado About Rummy - April 18, 2006
Calling for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation is becoming something of an alternative national pastime Read more
U.S. knew Iraq's militias were a threat two years ago but didn't act - April 18, 2006
U.S. officials were warned for more than two years that Shiite Muslim militias were infiltrating Iraq's security forces and taking control of neighborhoods, but they failed to take action to counteract it, Iraqi and American officials said. Now American officials call the militias the primary security concern in Iraq Read more
States shore up support for troops - April 18, 2006
From life insurance to utility bills and tuition, there's a surge of support for part-time soldiers. Read more
Colleges volunteer financial aid for returning soldiers - April 18, 2006
When the University of Illinois announced last month it would offer 110 full MBA scholarships to military veterans, worth $74,000 each, the news flew across the state's National Guard e-mail network. That same night, 1st Sgt. Michael Purvis e-mailed the program's director. Within days, he learned he'd be joining the school's executive MBA program in Chicago this fall. Read more
Iran suicide bombers ‘ready to hit Britain’ - April 18, 2006
IRAN has formed battalions of suicide bombers to strike at British and American targets if the nation’s nuclear sites are attacked. According to Iranian officials, 40,000 trained suicide bombers are ready for action Read more
What Rumsfeld knew about Torture - April 17, 2006
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was personally involved in the late 2002 interrogation of a high-value al-Qaida detainee known in intelligence circles as "the 20th hijacker." He also communicated weekly with the man in charge of the interrogation, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the controversial commander of the Guantánamo Bay detention center. Read more
Coming home — disillusioned - April 17, 2006
Three years ago, I was a Marine Corps captain on the Iraqi/Kuwaiti border, participating in the invasion of Iraq. Read more
Editorial: A Bad Leak - April 17, 2006
Mr. Bush did not declassify the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq — in any accepted sense of that word — when he authorized I. Lewis Libby Jr., through Vice President Dick Cheney, to talk about it with reporters. He permitted a leak of cherry-picked portions of the report. The declassification came later. Read more
Bush gives Rumsfeld strong show of support - April 17, 2006
Bush's steadfast Secretary of Defense has come under increasing criticism from retired generals who find his management style and leadership of the war in Iraq lacking.Retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste said Friday he thinks the clamor for Rumsfeld to step down is "happening for a reason." Read more
'There was a little girl clinging on to her dead dad screaming her eyes out. We never had time to stop' - April 12, 2006
James Piotrowski wrote a letter to the Guardian recently from his military prison cell in Colchester. In it he describes the events that he experienced while deployed on the frontline of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 Read more
New Attacks Foment Fear in Afghanistan - April 12, 2006
A spate of terror attacks, from the murders of five medical workers in Badghis province in the north to bombings in the opium poppy region of Helmand in the south, is expanding a climate of insecurity across Afghanistan as NATO forces prepare to take over most military duties from the U.S.-led coalition Read more
White House admits Iraq WMDs error - April 12, 2006
The White House has acknowledged for the first time that a key moment in post-war Iraq, the declaration by George Bush that "we have found the weapons of mass destruction", was based on intelligence known in Washington to be false. Read more
The U.S. Military is in DU Denial - April 12, 2006
My name is John Marshall. I was exposed to DU (depleted uranium). I am 100 percent disabled and I am pissed-off. In fact, I was advised by a couple of my counselors not to do this [interview] because I’m so angry with the government—at the VA system, at the way I’m treated and other veterans are treated. It’s very impersonal. They don’t give you any time. They ask us to go fight their wars, do the dirty work and then they can’t take care of you.” Read more
Iran Can Now Make glowing Mickey Mouse Watches - April 12, 2006
The ability to slightly enrich uranium is not the same as the ability to build a bomb. For the latter, you need at least 80% enrichment, which in turn would require about 16,000 small centrifuges hooked up to cascade. Iran does not have 16,000 centrifuges. It seems to have 180. Iran is a good ten years away from having a bomb, and since its leaders, including Supreme Jurisprudent Ali Khamenei, say they do not want an atomic bomb because it is Islamically immoral, you have to wonder if they will ever have a bomb. Read more
5 in US forces killed; Shi'ite clans vie over leadership - April 12, 2006
The US military announced the death of five American service members, including three killed yesterday north of Baghdad in a roadside bombing. Read more
Retired US Iraq general demands Rumsfeld resign - April 12, 2006
A recently retired two-star general who just a year ago commanded a U.S. Army division in Iraq on Wednesday joined a small but growing list of former senior officers to call on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign Read more
Disabled vets find respect under hoods of Humvees - April 11, 2006
Scrambling over, under and into this array of battle trucks and generators, water-purification units and compressors is a band of skilled surgeons. The hard-used, disabled vehicles serving Fort Lewis' Stryker combat brigades and other units, it turns out, are doctored daily by a team of mostly disabled veterans. Read more
Airmen Get New Skills for War - April 11, 2006
The Air Force adds ground combat to basic training. Afghan and Iraqi deployments, plus military gaps, drive the drastic cultural change. Read more
With Iraqi Doctors Fleeing, Prognosis Is More Agony - April 11, 2006
"She probably won't live through the day," Al-Kuraishi, a cardiologist, says softly in English, in consideration of Batul's parents. "An expert surgeon could save her, but we no longer have any here." Read more
Medical battles after the war - April 11, 2006
IU and Ohio State University took a huge step forward last month in the fields of veteran care and medical studies. With a $2 million funding grant from the Department of Defense, the two universities will forge a partnership and establish the Indiana-Ohio Center for Traumatic Amputee Rehabilitation Research Read more
War's Emotional Toll: Military trying to help soldiers by reaching out to their families - April 11, 2006
Learning from the mistakes of Vietnam, the military has long encouraged returning soldiers to seek counseling. Its leaders are trying something different - reaching out to the soldiers' families Read more
Vets get aid to shake war - April 11, 2006
Josh Dobbelstein drives as close to the middle of the road as he can. Over on the side of the road, he's more vulnerable to the enemy intent on killing him by hiding bombs stuffed in plastic bags or the carcasses of dead animals. Read more
Why Iraq Was a Mistake - April 11, 2006
A military insider sounds off against the war and the "zealots" who pushed it Read more
