War on Terror

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Russia Starts to Admit Heroin Problem
Russia Starts
to Admit Heroin Problem
Mar 11, 2009 10:18 AM CDT

Russia Starts to Admit Heroin Problem

Some blame West's failures in Afghanistan; others see bad policy

(Newser) - With an estimated 2 million drug addicts in Russia—about one in 50 adults—the nation is finally admitting it has a problem. One ally of PM Vladimir Putin faults the West’s anti-terror efforts in nearby Afghanistan for allowing poppy cultivation to bloom; others say Russia’s sweep-it-under-the-rug policies...

Obama Tactic on Pakistan, Afghanistan: Fingers Crossed

Pakistan will become key to US approach there

(Newser) - President Obama is bringing hope to conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan—but along the lines of hoping something good happens, Joe Klein writes in Time. A policy review is underway, but it seems the administration’s approach will be to “hope that the disintegration of Afghanistan can be prevented...

Clinton Seeks World Meeting on Afghanistan

High-level conference would develop 'common way forward'

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton has proposed a high-level international conference on Afghanistan sponsored by the United Nations and attended by a wide range of countries including Pakistan and NATO allies. The secretary of State presented the proposal at a NATO meeting in Brussels, where she said the session could be held March...

Leahy Calls For 'Truth Commission' on Bush Abuses

Republicans say it's a waste of time

(Newser) - Sen. Patrick Leahy called today for a "truth commission" to investigate alleged abuses by the Bush administration in the name of the war on terror, CNN reports. Detention and interrogation practices at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib “have seriously eroded fundamental American principles of the rule of law,"...

Marri Faces Charges of Aiding Al-Qaeda

Indictment unsealed; transfer of 'combatant' to civilian court begins

(Newser) - The charges against Ali al-Marri include conspiracy and material support for terrorism, according to a federal indictment unsealed today. The only alleged enemy combatant held on US soil is incarcerated in a naval brig in South Carolina, where he has been held for over 5 years without being charged, and...

Senate to Probe Bush-Era CIA
 Senate to Probe Bush-Era CIA 
Feb 27, 2009 4:22 AM CST

Senate to Probe Bush-Era CIA

Inquiry to focus on controversial interrogation and detention program

(Newser) - The Senate Intelligence Committee plans a sweeping investigation into the CIA's actions under President Bush, the Los Angeles Times reports. Officials say the probe is a fact-finding mission rather than an investigation into whether laws were broken, but the inquiry is certain to put the spotlight back on the agency's...

Weakness at Top Worsens Pakistan's Woes

Zardari has alienated party allies and foes alike: officials

(Newser) - In less than 6 months at Pakistan's helm, Asif Ali Zardari has surrounded himself with cronies, alienated top advisers, and created a situation that has diplomats warning that he's undercutting efforts to oppose al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Benazir Bhutto's widower is holed up inside his palace, and cabinet ministers who...

Pakistan Court Upholds Ban on Sharif; Tensions Rise

Political infighting may cause more instability

(Newser) - Pakistan’s supreme court refused today to let opposition leader Nawaz Sharif or his brother hold elected office, prompting fears of political infighting that could further destabilize the country, the BBC reports. President Asif Ali Zardari immediately moved to dismiss the provincial government in Punjab led by Sharif’s brother...

Gitmo Abuse Worse Under Obama: Lawyer

Guards 'get their kicks in' before controversial prison shuts down

(Newser) - Prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay has gone up since the election of President Obama, who’s promised to close the facility, a lawyer tells Reuters. Detainees represented by Ahmed Ghappour complained of beatings, dislocation of limbs, overfeeding while on hunger strike, and pepper spray on their toilet paper. “Guards...

Court Blocks Release of 17 Gitmo Prisoners Into US

(Newser) - The fate of 17 Chinese Muslims imprisoned at Guantanamo since 2002 remains in flux after the DC Circuit Court of Appeals blocked their release to the US today. That reverses a lower court ruling that said the prisoners—members of the Uighur ethnic group who are no longer considered enemy...

Obama Approves Afghan Troop Surge

(Newser) - President Obama has approved an increase in troop levels in Afghanistan, which could put 17,000 more soldiers and Marines on the ground in the coming months, the AP reports. Insiders say they should be in place by the volatile summer period, when warmer weather and upcoming elections are expected...

Iraqi Women's Minister Resigns in Protest

Budget cuts rob her of resources to help 'army of widows'

(Newser) - Iraq's state minister for women's affairs has quit to protest a lack of resources for a daunting task—improving the lives of "a full army of widows" and other women left poor or abandoned by war. Nawal al-Samarraie told the AP how her office's budget was so tight that...

CIA to Obama: British Terrorists Pose Top Threat

(Newser) - The CIA thinks the next attempt to launch a 9/11-level attack is likely to come out of Britain and has informed President Obama of a huge new spy operation within the UK, intelligence sources tell the Daily Telegraph. Agents say the most likely theoretical culprit is British-born Pakistani extremist entering...

Russia Wants to Help US on Afghanistan: Medvedev

But fate of US air base in Kyrgyzstan remains unknown

(Newser) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today offered “full-fledged” cooperation with the US in the fight against terrorism, the AP reports, one day after Kyrgyzstan said it would close a base crucial to American-led operations in Afghanistan. It was unclear if Russia might propose concessions in return for continued access to...

'Sleazy' Cheney Has No Right to Talk Terror

(Newser) - Dick Cheney’s claim that a terrorist attack is more likely during an Obama administration “is sleazy in the extreme,” Joe Klein writes for Time. Even if you can “leave aside the fact”—which Klein cannot—“that if Dick Cheney and his alleged boss had...

Cheney: Soft Obama Makes Terror Attack More Likely

Says fighting extremists 'a tough, mean, dirty, nasty business'

(Newser) - Dick Cheney thinks there’s a “high probability” terrorists will attack the US with a biological or nuclear weapon, and that Barack Obama’s policies will likely only increase those odds. Fighting terrorism is “a tough mean, dirty, nasty business,” the former vice president told Politico. “...

Al-Qaeda 'Decimated' in Pakistan: US Officials

(Newser) - CIA-directed air raids into Pakistan have “decimated” al-Qaeda’s senior leadership, killing up to a dozen high-level targets, senior US military officials tell NPR. They say a “complete al-Qaeda defeat” there is now entirely possible. “The enemy is really, really struggling,” says one official. “These...

Many US Troops Home in a Year: Obama

President sees Iraqis ready to handle own security

(Newser) - President Obama promised today to bring a "substantial" number of troops home from Iraq before next year's Super Bowl, MSNBC reports. In an interview with Matt Lauer, Obama said Iraq's smooth provincial elections this weekend ensured the homecoming. He disclosed no details, but said he plans to “roll...

Obama OK With CIA Rendition
Obama OK With CIA Rendition
Feb 1, 2009 6:50 PM CST

Obama OK With CIA Rendition

Prez allows abductions, transfers to continue, promises suspects won't be tortured

(Newser) - Torture techniques are out and Guantanamo Bay is facing closure, but Barack Obama is keeping one anti-terror tool: rendition, the Los Angeles Times reports. He signed an executive order allowing the CIA to continue the practice of secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to US-friendly nations. "You still...

'War on Terror' Phrase Fading Under Obama

Phrase on the skids as prez hopes to rewrite US-Muslim relations

(Newser) - Barack Obama is rephrasing the "war on terror," the AP reports. As campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan continue—as do broader US efforts to hunt down extremists—Obama is apparently letting the Bush catchphrase go out of style. The new president instead invokes  “ongoing struggle” and “...

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