Archive for the 'War' Category
U.N. Can’t Account for Millions Sent to Afghan Election Board
October 30th, 2009Via: ProPublica: The United Nations cannot account for tens of millions of dollars provided to the troubled Afghan election commission, according to two confidential U.N. audits and interviews with current and former senior diplomats… As Afghanistan prepares for a second round of national voting, the documents and interviews paint the fullest picture to date of […]
Brother of Afghan Leader Is Said to Be on CIA Payroll
October 28th, 2009Via: New York Times: Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium trade, gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency, and has for much of the past eight years, according to current and former American officials. The agency pays Mr. Karzai for a […]
State Department Official in Afghanistan Resigns Over U.S. Strategy
October 27th, 2009Via: ABC News: A key U.S. official in Afghanistan has resigned in protest over U.S. policy in the war-torn region, as the Obama administration deliberates its future strategy there. Matthew Hoh, 36, a senior foreign service officer, wrote a four-page letter to Ambassador Nancy Powell, director general of the foreign service at the State Department, […]
Amnesty International: Palestinians Denied Water
October 27th, 2009Via: BBC: Israel is denying Palestinians access to even the basic minimum of clean, safe water, Amnesty International says. In a report, the human rights group says Israeli water restrictions discriminate against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. It says that in Gaza, Israel’s blockade has pushed the already ailing water and sewage system to […]
Baghdad Blast Toll Passes 130
October 25th, 2009Via: BBC: At least 132 people have been killed and 520 injured in two car bomb attacks in Baghdad, Iraqi officials say. The blasts hit the ministry of justice and a provincial government office near the heavily fortified Green Zone. They came in quick succession at 1030 (0730 GMT) as people headed to work during […]
Israeli Police Storm Jerusalem’s Holiest Site
October 25th, 2009Via: AP: Israeli forces stormed Jerusalem’s holiest shrine Sunday, firing stun grenades to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing Palestinian protesters in a fresh eruption of violence at the most volatile spot in the country. A wall of Israeli riot police behind plexiglass shields closed in on the crowd, sending many protesters — overwhelmingly young men — […]
T. Boone Pickens on Iraq: ‘We leave there with the Chinese getting the oil’
October 23rd, 2009Seems fair, since the Chinese financed the atrocity in the first place. Via: World Tribune: A leading energy developer said the United States has been excluded from Iraq’s revived energy market. T. Boone Pickens told Congress that U.S. companies were losing opportunities in the Iraqi crude oil and natural gas sectors to competitors from China […]
The Big Picture: 2009 UN World Drug Report
October 23rd, 2009Oblivion. Via: Boston Globe – Big Picture: (WARNING: Graphic content.) The 2009 United Nations World Drug report, released earlier this year, notes that 2009 marks “the end of the first century of drug control (it all started in Shanghai in 1909)”, and that the illicit drug market worldwide has now become a $320 billion-per-year industry. […]
MIT Micro UAV Uses Lasers for Autonomous Navigation Indoors
October 18th, 2009Iranian Commanders Assassinated
October 18th, 2009Update: Iran Blames “Foreign Elements” for Attack on Guards Via: Reuters: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards accused “foreign elements” linked to the United States of involvement in Sunday’s attack that killed at least two senior commanders of the elite force, state television reported. “Surely foreign elements, particularly those linked to the global arrogance, were involved in this […]
