Showing posts with label How to Suck at the Global War on Tairr'ism (GWOT). Show all posts
Showing posts with label How to Suck at the Global War on Tairr'ism (GWOT). Show all posts
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
on the bright side, think of it as global trickle-down
It's not like we were gonna need it anyway...
$13 Billion in Iraq Aid Wasted Or Stolen, Ex-Investigator Says
A former Iraqi official estimated yesterday that more than $13 billion meant for reconstruction projects in Iraq was wasted or stolen through elaborate fraud schemes.
Salam Adhoob, a former chief investigator for Iraq's Commission on Public Integrity, told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, an arm of the Democratic caucus, that an Iraqi auditing bureau "could not properly account for" the money.
While many of the projects audited "were not needed -- and many were never built," he said, "this very real fact remains: Billions of American dollars that paid for these projects are now gone."
$13 Billion in Iraq Aid Wasted Or Stolen, Ex-Investigator Says
A former Iraqi official estimated yesterday that more than $13 billion meant for reconstruction projects in Iraq was wasted or stolen through elaborate fraud schemes.
Salam Adhoob, a former chief investigator for Iraq's Commission on Public Integrity, told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, an arm of the Democratic caucus, that an Iraqi auditing bureau "could not properly account for" the money.
While many of the projects audited "were not needed -- and many were never built," he said, "this very real fact remains: Billions of American dollars that paid for these projects are now gone."
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
troops? we don't need no stinkin troops
News item: Since 1994, 12,342 service men and women have been discharged, according to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a gay rights group.
Friday, July 18, 2008
the troops must really be loving all this supporting of them we're doing (we know you're busy - you can thank us later)
Electrical Risks at Iraq Bases Are Worse Than Said
WASHINGTON — Shoddy electrical work by private contractors on United States military bases in Iraq is widespread and dangerous, causing more deaths and injuries from fires and shocks than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to internal Army documents.
During just one six-month period — August 2006 through January 2007 — at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military’s largest dining hall in the country, documents obtained by The New York Times show. Two soldiers died in an electrical fire at their base near Tikrit in 2006, the records note, while another was injured while jumping from a burning guard tower in May 2007.
And while the Pentagon has previously reported that 13 Americans have been electrocuted in Iraq, many more have been injured, some seriously, by shocks, according to the documents. A log compiled earlier this year at one building complex in Baghdad disclosed that soldiers complained of receiving electrical shocks in their living quarters on an almost daily basis.
. . .
Heather Browne, a KBR spokeswoman, would not comment about a company safety study or the reports of electrical fires or shocks, but she said KBR had found no evidence of a link between its work and the electrocutions. She added, “KBR’s commitment to the safety of all employees and those the company serves remains unwavering.”
WASHINGTON — Shoddy electrical work by private contractors on United States military bases in Iraq is widespread and dangerous, causing more deaths and injuries from fires and shocks than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to internal Army documents.
During just one six-month period — August 2006 through January 2007 — at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military’s largest dining hall in the country, documents obtained by The New York Times show. Two soldiers died in an electrical fire at their base near Tikrit in 2006, the records note, while another was injured while jumping from a burning guard tower in May 2007.
And while the Pentagon has previously reported that 13 Americans have been electrocuted in Iraq, many more have been injured, some seriously, by shocks, according to the documents. A log compiled earlier this year at one building complex in Baghdad disclosed that soldiers complained of receiving electrical shocks in their living quarters on an almost daily basis.
. . .
Heather Browne, a KBR spokeswoman, would not comment about a company safety study or the reports of electrical fires or shocks, but she said KBR had found no evidence of a link between its work and the electrocutions. She added, “KBR’s commitment to the safety of all employees and those the company serves remains unwavering.”
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Good Morning!
(CBS) Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government on Monday directly accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of being behind a recent series of attacks by Taliban militants that has killed scores of people, reports CBS News' Sami Yousafzai. . .
A statement from the cabinet sent to CBS News said Afghan leaders had done their best during the last six-and-a-half years to stay away from a war of words with Pakistan and maintain a friendly relationship with its neighbor. But, according to the statement, the ISA and Pakistan's army have continued to interfere in Afghanistan's internal affairs. . .
The statement, provided to CBS News by the cabinet secretary, claimed the people of Afghanistan and "the international community" were now sure that Pakistan has "not only become a safe haven for terrorists but it also exports terrorism."
A statement from the cabinet sent to CBS News said Afghan leaders had done their best during the last six-and-a-half years to stay away from a war of words with Pakistan and maintain a friendly relationship with its neighbor. But, according to the statement, the ISA and Pakistan's army have continued to interfere in Afghanistan's internal affairs. . .
The statement, provided to CBS News by the cabinet secretary, claimed the people of Afghanistan and "the international community" were now sure that Pakistan has "not only become a safe haven for terrorists but it also exports terrorism."
Monday, July 14, 2008
added to k-mad's America-hating book list
The Outlaw Presidency
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Monday, July 14, 2008; 12:47 PM
Another major book chronicling the descent into lawlessness of the Bush presidency is out this week. This one is by Jane Mayer of the New Yorker, and it's called "The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals." . . .
"The biggest torture-fueled wild-goose chase, of course, is the war in Iraq. Exhibit A, revisited in 'The Dark Side,' is Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, an accused Qaeda commander whose torture was outsourced by the C.I.A. to Egypt. His fabricated tales of Saddam's biological and chemical W.M.D. -- and of nonexistent links between Iraq and Al Qaeda -- were cited by President Bush in his fateful Oct. 7, 2002, Cincinnati speech ginning up the war and by Mr. Powell in his subsequent United Nations presentation on Iraqi weaponry. Two F.B.I. officials told Ms. Mayer that Mr. al-Libi later explained his lies by saying: 'They were killing me. I had to tell them something.'"
And, if Bush is playing rope-a-dope with the press, it seems the America-haters may finally have punched themselves out...
. . . a polemic with the provocative title 'The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder,' has risen to best-seller status with nary a peep from the usual outlets that help sell books: cable television and book reviews in major daily newspapers....
"Mr. Bugliosi, in a recent telephone interview from his home in Los Angeles, said he had expected some resistance from the mainstream media because of the subject matter - the book lays a legal case for holding President Bush 'criminally responsible' for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq - but not a virtual blackout...
"The editor of Newsweek, Jon Meacham, said he had not read the manuscript, but he offered a reason why the media might be silent: 'I think there's a kind of Bush-bashing fatigue out there.'"
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Monday, July 14, 2008; 12:47 PM
Another major book chronicling the descent into lawlessness of the Bush presidency is out this week. This one is by Jane Mayer of the New Yorker, and it's called "The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals." . . .
"The biggest torture-fueled wild-goose chase, of course, is the war in Iraq. Exhibit A, revisited in 'The Dark Side,' is Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, an accused Qaeda commander whose torture was outsourced by the C.I.A. to Egypt. His fabricated tales of Saddam's biological and chemical W.M.D. -- and of nonexistent links between Iraq and Al Qaeda -- were cited by President Bush in his fateful Oct. 7, 2002, Cincinnati speech ginning up the war and by Mr. Powell in his subsequent United Nations presentation on Iraqi weaponry. Two F.B.I. officials told Ms. Mayer that Mr. al-Libi later explained his lies by saying: 'They were killing me. I had to tell them something.'"
And, if Bush is playing rope-a-dope with the press, it seems the America-haters may finally have punched themselves out...
. . . a polemic with the provocative title 'The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder,' has risen to best-seller status with nary a peep from the usual outlets that help sell books: cable television and book reviews in major daily newspapers....
"Mr. Bugliosi, in a recent telephone interview from his home in Los Angeles, said he had expected some resistance from the mainstream media because of the subject matter - the book lays a legal case for holding President Bush 'criminally responsible' for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq - but not a virtual blackout...
"The editor of Newsweek, Jon Meacham, said he had not read the manuscript, but he offered a reason why the media might be silent: 'I think there's a kind of Bush-bashing fatigue out there.'"
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
next on k-mad's fun summer reading list after the book on genocide
Clarke minces no words in his examination of the breadth and depth of the mediocrity, entropy, and collapse endemic in America's national security programs. In order for the United States to stop its string of strategic mistakes, we first need to understand why they happen. Drawing on his thirty years in the White House, Pentagon, State Department, and intelligence community, Clarke gives us a privileged, if horrifying, look into the debacle of government policies, discovering patterns in the failures and offering ways to stop the cycle once and for all.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Al who? Did you mean Al Sharpton? Cuz I think we might have loads of s#i+ on him around here somehwere...
Part Two of the report reveals the inadequacies of the FBI's recordkeeping system, which results in 60-70% of Freedom of Information Act requests being denied because the FBI cannot find the requested records. In particular, the National Security Archive provided an example of a request for records on "Al Qaeda" that was denied because the Bureau had "no records." According to the FBI's representative in the Fox News report, that response was a mistake because the FBI staff sent the wrong letter. The Archive's records show, however, that the denial was administratively appealed to the Department of Justice's Office of Information and Privacy, which ordered the FBI to conduct a new search. The second search also was denied because there still were "no records" found on Al Qaeda.
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