War Glance
As we approach the 8th anniversary of a U.S. invasion of Iraq, and having just passed the 20th anniversary of another, it's worth reflecting on what's been accomplished through two wars and the intervening sanctions that former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright so famously approved of even at the cost of a half million children's lives.\The authors of "Erasing Iraq" interviewed Iraqis as far afield as Sweden and Australia: "Every Iraqi we spoke with reported similar events: houses bombed, possessions lost, children kidnapped, lives destroyed. 'Americans -- when they hear one shot -- even if it's like 10 kilometers away -- they'll just open fire on everything,' said Laith as he lit a cigarette with the small red heating coils warming his cramped two-room house in East Amman, Jordan." The authors did not mention it, but this experience has been reported by American soldiers who took part in it as well, including Ethan McCord:
Sociocide: Iraq Is No More
U.S. Launches Diplomatic 'Surge' to End Afghan War
The United States is mounting a "diplomatic surge" to end the war in Afghanistan even as military pressure is forcing Taliban insurgents to consider whether to break with al Qaeda, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday.
Clinton, in a speech on Afghanistan at the Asia Society, said the Taliban's only option was to split from al Qaeda, accept the Afghan constitution and join peaceful dialogue on the country's future. "They cannot wait us out. They cannot defeat us. And they cannot escape this choice," Clinton said in a speech that was broadcast live on the Internet.
Baghdad wants U.S. to pay $1 billion for damage to city
Iraq's capital wants the United States to apologize and pay $1 billion for the damage done to the city not by bombs but by blast walls and Humvees since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
The city's government issued its demands in a statement on Wednesday that said Baghdad's infrastructure and aesthetics have been seriously damaged by the American military. "The U.S. forces changed this beautiful city to a camp in an ugly and destructive way, which reflected deliberate ignorance and carelessness about the simplest forms of public taste," the statement said.
Curveball: How US was duped by Iraqi fantasist looking to topple Saddam
In a small flat in the German town of Erlangen in February 2003, an out-of-work Iraqi sat down with his wife to watch one of the world's most powerful men deliver the speech of his career on live TV.
As US secretary of state, Colin Powell gathered his notes in front of the United Nations security council, the man watching — Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, known to the west's intelligence services as "Curveball" — had more than an inkling of what was to come. He was, after all, Powell's main source, a man his German handlers had feted as a new "Deep throat" — an agent so pivotal that he could bring down a government.
U.S. firm with poor ratings hired for more Afghan work
A U.S. contractor who has continued to receive government contracts despite criticism of its work in Afghanistan was given low ratings for its performance on two more high-profile projects in the war-torn country.
McClatchy has learned that the U.S. government criticized Black & Veatch for its poor oversight and delays of a Kabul power plant project and for a study of the viability of developing a natural gas field in the Sheberghan region in northern Afghanistan.
At least 21 dead, many hurt in Afghan Taliban raid
Taliban insurgents armed with bombs, automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked the Kandahar police headquarters Saturday during a bloody assault on the southern Afghan city that killed at least 21 people and wounded dozens more.
The bold afternoon raid showed insurgents are still able to launch deadly strikes on heavily fortified government institutions despite the past year's influx of U.S. troops into Kandahar province, the Taliban's birthplace. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Deadly car bombings hit Iraq city
At least seven people have been killed in three near-simultaneous car bombings in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. Dozens of bystanders were also injured as the blasts, which detonated around 10:25am local time, tore through the offices of Kurdish internal security forces - as well as targeting a police patrol and a senior police officer's convoy.
Police officials were quick to blame an armed group and promised a strong response. '"We are certain that this terrorist group, Ansar Al-Islam, is behind this attack," Major General Jamal Taher Bakr, the city police chief, said.
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