Iraq and Afghan War Inquiries

Full Statement: Taliban Agree to Peace Talks

2013-06-18T13:16:00.000-04:00

Afghanistan would have been long over, and maybe this time we would have kept our promises to help rebuild and help bring social order to the people of made some many years before 9/11, if we hadn't Abandoned the main missions of and the promises years back and with cheers from the majority with each drum beat growing louder and pointed at Iraq!!

Taliban agree to peace talks with US over Afghanistan – full statement

Full text of the statement read by a Taliban spokesman in Qatar on the agreement to enter into peace talks with the US
18 June 2013 - The full statement on Afghanistan peace talks read out in English by an unnamed Taliban spokesman at a news conference in Qatar, as transcribed by the Guardian
Statement concerning the opening of the political office of the Islamic Emirate [Taliban] in Qatar.

It is well known to all that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has been waging jihad to put an end to the occupation and form an independent Islamic system. To reach this goal it has utilised every lawful means. read more>>>

US to join direct peace talks with Taliban over Afghanistan's future

'Peace and reconciliation' milestone comes after US drops request for formal rejection of al-Qaida as precondition to talks read more>>>

Iraq: 'worst foreign policy decision'

2013-06-16T08:26:00.000-04:00

Iraq invasion was the 'worst foreign policy decision' since 1839 - MP

13 June 2013 - A Conservative MP and former diplomat has used a debate on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq war to launch an attack on British foreign policy.
Rory Stewart began his remarks on 13 June 2013 by saying the invasion represented the "worst British foreign policy decision since the Boer war or, in fact, since the first Anglo-Afghan war in 1839".
He continued: "We don't think very much about Iraq... Why don't we think about these things? Because we're not very serious. At some level this country is no longer being as serious as it should be about foreign policy.

"Our newspapers are not writing enough about Iraq. The Foreign Office is not thinking enough about the failure. The military is not thinking enough about these things."
The debate, tabled by the Backbench Business Committee, was led by Green MP Caroline Lucas. read more>>>

Ignored British Intelligence Advice to Go to War With Iraq

2013-06-16T08:11:00.001-04:00

Cover up of UK role in Iraq war

16 June 2013 - If ever a leader subjected the pride of the mighty British Raj to ridicule it has to be Tony Blair. Why would any leader just to get a pat on the back by the US, ignore British intelligence advice and to go war with Iraq? Do the citizens of America and Britain and NATO nations realize that they have blood on their hands for allowing their Government to invade a nation after fabricating lies and killing scores of people and leaving millions orphaned children? The Wepon of Mass Destruction (WMD) was a lie. But when Sir John Chilcot asked Blair if he had any regrets and his “no” answer shows not an ounce of compassion.
Why would Tony Blair ignore MI6 findings that Saddam Hussein had no nuclear weapons and no WMD a year before UK went to war with Iraq?
Does this not make both America and Britain fools or war criminals? read more>>>

The Polish CIA Black Sites Probe Extended

2013-06-12T08:03:00.000-04:00

Polish prosecutors get more time for CIA black sites probe

Poland is the only one of the alleged hosts of the CIA "black sites" which has a criminal investigation open. If the case goes to trial it could implicate senior political figures and complicate relations with its U.S. allies.
12 June 2013 - Polish prosecutors have extended until early October the five-year-old criminal investigation into allegations that the CIA ran secret jails on Polish soil, a case human rights campaigners say the authorities are deliberately dragging out.
The United States has acknowledged using a network of facilities in several foreign countries to detain suspects who threatened national security in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities. read more>>>

Where is the World Health Organization Report on Iraqi Birth Defects

2013-06-06T18:16:00.000-04:00

What's delaying the WHO report on Iraqi birth defects?

A 2012 World Health Organization study on congenital birth defects in Iraq has still not been released to the public.
06 Jun 2013 - Iraq is poisoned. Thirty-five million Iraqis wake up every morning to a living nightmare of childhood cancers, adult cancers and birth defects. Familial cancers, cluster cancers and multiple cancers in the same individual have become frequent in Iraq.
Sterility, repeated miscarriages, stillbirths and severe birth defects - some never described in any medical books - are all around, in increasing numbers. Trapped in this hellish nightmare, millions of Iraqis struggle to survive, and they call for help.
At long last, public pressure and media attention to this public health catastrophe prompted a joint study by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Iraqi Ministry of Health to determine the prevalence of birth defects in Iraq. This study began in May-June 2012 and was completed in early October 2012. read more>>>

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales: "He is broken, he was broken, and we {* the country *} broke him"

2013-06-06T08:08:00.000-04:00

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales' guilty pleas accepted in Afghanistan massacre

June 6, 2013 - The American soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, many of them women and children who were asleep in their villages, pleaded guilty to murder Wednesday and acknowledged to a judge that there was "not a good reason in this world" for his actions.
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales' plea ensures that he will avoid the death penalty for the middle-of-the night slayings that so inflamed tensions with the people of Afghanistan that the American military suspended combat operations there.
Prosecutors say Bales slipped away before dawn on March 11, 2012, from his base in Kandahar Province. Armed with a 9 mm pistol and an M-4 rifle equipped with a grenade launcher, he attacked a village of mud-walled compounds called Alkozai, then returned and woke up a fellow soldier to tell him about it.
The soldier didn't believe Bales and went back to sleep. Bales then left to attack a second village known as Najiban.

snip
"He is broken, he was broken, and we broke him," said Bales' attorney, John Henry Browne, in an interview as reported by CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy. He said Bales is worried about a backlash against U.S. soldiers still in Afghanistan.
"He's very concerned about the soldiers on the ground," Browne said. "He's very concerned about [the] Afghan people and wants to apologize."
Wednesday's proceedings at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle marked the first time Bales provided a public account of the massacre.

snip
Bales was serving his fourth deployment. Until the attacks, he had a good, if undistinguished, military record in a decade-long career. The Ohio native suffered from PTSD and a traumatic brain injury, his lawyers say, and he had been drinking contraband alcohol and snorting Valium -- both provided by other soldiers -- the night of the killings.
Bales said he was also taking three doses of steroids each week to make himself "smaller, leaner, more fit for the mission," and to help him recover quickly after rigorous activity.
The drugs "definitely increased my irritability and anger," he said.
Given Bales' prior deployments and apparent PTSD, military law experts had suggested that a jury was unlikely to sentence him to death. Browne had sought to place blame with the military for sending Bales back to war in the first place. read more>>>

CIA “extraordinary rendition” To Torture Programme Getting More Focus

2013-06-06T07:42:00.000-04:00

Scottish rendition flights police probe ordered

06/06/2013 - THE Lord Advocate has ordered a probe into new claims CIA planes landed at Scottish airports as part of an “extraordinary rendition” programme.
A study conducted by two academics at UK universities claims 13 flights used Aberdeen, Wick and Inverness airports in the US security service’s “war on terror”..
Extraordinary rendition was used by the US Government in the years after the September 11 attacks. It involved the secret kidnapping, detention and transfer of terror suspects to other countries for interrogation and alleged torture.
Sam Raphael of Kingston University in London, developed the Rendition Project with Ruth Blakely, from Kent University.
The project revealed data which shows five flights landed at Wick and Inverness, with a further three landing at Aberdeen International Airport. read more>>>

The Harper government's detainee torture scandal will soon resurface

June 5, 2013 - Although the Harper government seems to believe it has successfully buried the mountain of evidence demonstrating Canada's long-term, large-scale systemic complicity in illegal Afghan detainee torture and the CIA's horrific worldwide "extraordinary rendition" scheme, this ghost may soon rise again to haunt all of Canada in a big way.
The UN Committee against Torture (UN CAT) last June followed its legal mandate to review Canada's compliance with Geneva Convention obligations prohibiting detainee torture and complicity in detainee torture. The ensuing committee report took clear aim at Canada's failures, specifically finding it to be "complicit in torture."
Now the Geneva committee wants some answers, setting a June 1 deadline this year for a response from Canada. read more>>>

Iraq: 'grubby deal to censor Iraq inquiry'

2013-05-31T09:42:00.002-04:00

Cameron, Blair and their 'grubby deal to censor Iraq inquiry': Key evidence has been held back in return for ex-PM's neutrality at election, claims former foreign secretary

30 May 2013 - David Owen has accused Tony Blair and David Cameron of striking a secret deal to prevent the Chilcot Inquiry publishing key documents about the Iraq war.
The former Foreign Secretary said extracts of letters between Mr Blair and President George W Bush have been held back to save the ex-Prime Minister’s reputation.
It is believed the documents may shed light on the allegation that Mr Blair had already agreed to go to war up to a year before the 2003 invasion.
In a speech, Lord Owen made the astonishing claim that Mr Cameron had backed Mr Blair’s decision to block the publication of the letters in return for his ‘neutrality or tacit support’ at the next general election.
The peer also pointed the finger of blame at Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood, accusing him too of blocking the publication of the documents.
The Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq conflict was set up four years ago but has yet to report. While Sir John Chilcot and his panel have been given access to all the documents, they have been denied the right to publish some of those which they regard as key to their conclusions. read more>>>

Torture and the "National Day of Civic Hacking"

2013-05-30T14:14:00.000-04:00

For “Civic Hacking Day,” We’re Opening Our Torture Database to Developers

05/28/2013 - This Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2, mark the first annual National Day of Civic Hacking. The ACLU is participating by enabling developers to access our Torture Database and in turn make this information even more accessible to the public. Starting now, anyone can access the extensive data amassed by the ACLU relating to the Bush administration’s rendition, detention, and interrogation policies and practices.
But before we explain further, what exactly is Civic Hacking Day?
Here’s how the White House, which has promoted the event, has described it:

Civic Hacking Day is an opportunity for software developers, technologists, and entrepreneurs to unleash their can-do American spirit by collaboratively harnessing publicly-released data and code to create innovative solutions for problems that affect Americans. . . . This is an opportunity for citizens in every town and city across the Nation to roll up their sleeves, get involved, and work together to improve our society by cultivating an ecosystem for innovation and change.
Essentially, Civic Hacking Day is an opportunity for programmers and others to capitalize on the release of public data to make our government and our communities more transparent, more efficient, and more accountable to the public. read more>>>

Raising Questions About a Conspiracy of Silence Following the Iraq War

2013-05-30T07:30:00.000-04:00

The whiff of suspicion over the Chilcot Inquiry grows stronger

Lord Owen is right to raise questions about a conspiracy of silence following the Iraq War
29 May 2013 - Almost four years have passed since Sir John Chilcot called a press conference to launch his inquiry into Britain’s role in the Iraq War. He grimly acknowledged that “there have been inquiries which have taken very long periods of time: they are being held on a quite different basis from ours”. Sir John insisted that he was “determined to avoid… a long, drawn-out inquiry”. His would all be over within “a year and a half, maybe a bit more” – in other words, by the summer of 2011.
Sad to report, Sir John’s inquiry was (apparently) still at work in the summer of 2011. Then 2012 came and went. Earlier this year, there was a buzz around Whitehall that Sir John was due to announce his findings this summer, but this hope has also vanished. Eyes are now starting to turn, in the words of one senior figure very close to the inquiry, towards “the end of this year and maybe 2014”.
Comparisons are being made privately to the Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday, which was published an unfeasible 12 years after being commissioned, and an outrageous 38 years after the events it investigated. read more>>>

Meanwhile what came out in a flurry early on in public testimony at the Chilcot Inquiry, with more following and we still don't know what was said behind closed doors nor given in still classified files.

24 November 2009 - Even before Bush's administration came to power an article written by his then national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, warned that "nothing will change" in Iraq until Saddam was gone
27 November 2009 - But there was a 'sea change' in attitude after the atrocities, with former national security adviser Condoleezza Rice targeting Iraq on the very day of the outrage.
30 November 2009 - George Bush tried to make a connection between Iraq and al-Qaida in a conversation with Tony Blair three days after the 9/11 attacks, according to Blair's foreign policy adviser of the time.
1 December 2009 - There was "a touching belief [in Washington] that we shouldn't worry so much about the aftermath because it was all going to be sweetness and light".
3 December 2009 - Boyce mentions the "dysfunctionalism" of Washington. He says that he would find himself briefing his American counterparts on what was happening in different parts of the US administration. Rumsfeld was not sharing information

Written Transcripts by Date of each session.

Oral Evidence by Date

Witnesses who have given oral evidence in public

Declassified Documents

And more, we still have nothing on what went on behind closed doors and may or may not with the final report, if and when it's released.

CIA-linked "extraordinary rendition" flights

2013-05-28T08:16:00.000-04:00

'Conclusive proof' CIA torture flights landed at Scottish airports

27 May 2013 - Investigators believe they have found "conclusive" new proof that CIA-linked planes landed regularly in Scottish airports as part of the "extraordinary rendition" programme.
The three airports which it is claimed were used as part of the "war on terror" are Aberdeen, Inverness and Wick.
A study, conducted by two academics at UK universities, found that 13 flights to these airports may have been involved in the US security service's controversial "extraordinary rendition" programme.
Extraordinary rendition was used by the US Government in the years after the September 11 attacks.
It involved the secret kidnapping, detention and transfer of terror suspects to other countries for interrogation and alleged torture. read more>>>

Dundee and Leuchars used by planes linked to CIA rendition flights

28 May 2013 - CIA planes linked to the controversial practice of “extraordinary rendition” landed at Leuchars and Dundee airports on multiple occasions, according to investigators.
Information has emerged showing a number of aircraft suspected to be involved in the US security service’s programme, which has been dogged by links to allegations of secret prisons and torture.
The academic study also revealed flights landed at Leuchars — the only RAF base in Scotland highlighted in the research — and Dundee’s commercial airport.
North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell has called for a full investigation to be held into the claims, with the unredacted results made public, while Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie promised to raise the matter with Foreign Secretary William Hague. read more>>>

UK ordered to hold inquests into civilian deaths during Iraq war

2013-05-24T18:23:00.000-04:00

High court rules that up to 161 allegedly unlawful killings by British military should be subject of coroner-style hearings

24 May 2013 - A series of public inquests should be held into the deaths of civilians who are alleged to have been killed unlawfully by the British military following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the high court has ruled.
In a ground-breaking judgment that could have an impact on how the British military is able to conduct operations among civilians in the future, the court ruled on Friday that up to 161 deaths should be the subject of hearings modelled upon coroners' inquests.
In practice, a series of hearings – possibly amounting to more than 100 – are likely to be held as a result of the judgment, which follows a three-year legal battle on behalf of the Iraqis' families. read more>>>

New Light Shed on CIA Rendition Programme

2013-05-23T10:01:00.000-04:00

New light shed on US government's extraordinary rendition programme

Online project uncovers details of way in which CIA carried out kidnaps and secret detentions following September 11 attacks
22 May 2013 - A groundbreaking research project has mapped the US government's global kidnap and secret detention programme, shedding unprecedented light on one of the most controversial secret operations of recent years.
The interactive online project – by two British universities and a legal charity – has uncovered new details of the way in which the so-called extraordinary rendition programme operated for years in the wake of the September 11 attacks, and the techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to avoid detection in the face of growing public concern.
The Rendition Project website is intended to serve as a research tool that not only collates all the publicly available data about the programme, but can continue to be updated as further information comes to light. read more>>>

What??? 'Now' They Want to Know About the Missing War Records???

2013-05-20T17:53:00.002-04:00

Are they seeking out another scandal and congressional distraction from what they aren't doing, their jobs!?

ProPublica and The Seattle Times Nov. 9, 2012 - Lost to History: Missing War Records Complicate Benefit Claims by Iraq, Afghanistan Veterans

DeLara's case is part of a much larger problem that has plagued the U.S. military since the 1990 Gulf War: a failure to create and maintain the types of field records that have documented American conflicts since the Revolutionary War.

Talk to daddy bush and his son, which is what you should have done long ago instead of rubber stamping these wars of choice!! How can voters think these they've hired have the intellect to be representatives of them let alone the country! Once in they run from the jobs descriptions hired to perform, blaming everyone but themselves, they and the staffs they hire, especially this Miller as majority leader of the House Veterans Affairs Committee!!

Congressmen to Hagel: Where Are the Missing War Records?

May 20, 2013 - The top Republican and Democrat on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs are demanding more information from defense Secretary Chuck Hagel about lost Army field records from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the subject of a ProPublica investigation last year.
In an unusually detailed letter sent Friday to Hagel, Reps. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., and Michael Michaud, D-Maine, said the Defense Department’s response to an earlier request about why records are missing — and what the military is doing about it — didn’t go far enough.
“Congress must have a clear understanding of the extent of the lost records in order to safeguard the best interests of our service members and veterans,’’ the letter says. read more>>>

"If military action is worth our troops’ blood, it should be worth our treasure, too — not just in the abstract, but in the form of a specific ante by every American." -Andrew Rosenthal 10 Feb. 2013

Meanwhile as they attack Gen Shinseki why aren't they following through with the early reports about Veterans Administration records while under the previous bush administration and these two present wars:

Army Times Oct. 16, 2008 - VA claims found in piles to be shredded

CNN iReport October 25, 2008 - House Vets' Committee To Probe VA Shredder Scandal

Tampa Bay Times Oct 27, 2008 - Hundreds of VA documents improperly shredded, review finds {Tampa Bay Times search page and series of articles}

CBS News February 11, 2009 - Veterans' Claims Found in Shredder Bins

“Why in 2009 were we still using paper?” VA Assistant Secretary Tommy Sowers “When we came in, there was no plan to change that; we’ve been operating on a six month wait for over a decade.” 27 March 2013

Guantanamo Bay: Inside a Legal Nightmare

2013-05-14T18:04:00.000-04:00

Author Jess Bravin explores the military prison's tangled history in new book 'The Terror Courts'

May 13, 2013 - As the hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay enters its fourth month and pressure to close the prison mounts, it's easy to forget that Guantanamo is not only a detention facility but also the site of a unique legal experiment that has no direct precedent in U.S. history. At times, it can be difficult to keep track of the tangled mess of authorities claimed, cases appealed and lives destroyed with Guantanamo at its center. Those looking for clarity on these issues have a new, important resource in author Jess Bravin's book "The Terror Courts: Rough Justice at Guantanamo Bay", which tells the story of the evolution of Guantanamo's legal universe in captivating detail, and provides the reader with a clear picture of just how we arrived at this bizarre moment in our history. read more>>>

She Ran a Secret CIA Prison in Thailand

2013-05-13T09:13:00.001-04:00

Woman who ran secret prison bypassed as top spy

May 7, 2013 - One of the CIA's highest-ranking women, who once ran a CIA prison in Thailand where terror suspects were waterboarded, has been bypassed for the agency's top spy job.
The officer, who remains undercover, was a finalist for the job and would have become the first female chief of clandestine operations.
As one of the last remaining senior CIA officers who held leadership roles in the agency's interrogation and detention program, however, she was a politically risky pick. read more>>>

UK human rights record under pressure from UN torture panel

2013-05-10T08:57:00.000-04:00

Rendition, torture and mistreatment of prisoners tackled by UN in Geneva with UK's 'non-answers' singled out for criticism

9 May 2013 - The UK has faced tough questions this week from a UN panel closely scrutinising the UK's human rights record, following a series of disclosures about involvement in so-called extraordinary rendition and torture in the years following the 9/11 attacks.
Over two days in Geneva, the UK delegation went before the UN committee which monitors the implementation of the international convention against torture to face hundreds of questions covering a range of issues including: complicity in abusive interrogation; renditions to Libya; the mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq; and the stalled official British inquiry into the treatment of terrorism suspects.
Almost every state faces regular examination by the UN's Committee against Torture, although the UK's appearance has been delayed for a number of years following its late submission of documentary evidence. read more>>>

CCR Goes to Court to Argue Abu Ghraib Crimes

2013-05-09T14:01:00.000-04:00

May 9 2013 - Tomorrow, May 10th, CCR {Center for Constitutional Rights} has an important oral argument in our case, Al Shimari v. CACI, against private military contractor CACI for war crimes - including torture - at Abu Ghraib, where CACI provided interrogation services. CCR and our co-counsel represent four survivors of torture, all of whom were held at the so-called “hard site” in Abu Ghraib.

Seeking Corporate Accountability for Crimes at Abu Ghraib

Flowers at the entrance to a cell block at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, where inmates were tortured while under American control, on Saturday, February 21, 2009. (Photo: Jehad Nga / The New York Times)
29 April 2013 - Nine years ago today, photos from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were released to the public. The images are indelible: Groups of prisoners, naked except for hoods covering their heads are piled on top of one another; soldiers grin and give thumbs-up to the camera; one holds a naked prisoner on a leash. In the most infamous photo, a hooded man balances on a cardboard box, arms outstretched, electrical wires attached to his hands.
Lesser known than the torture at Abu Ghraib is who was running it. As military investigations and court martial records have shown, private civilian contractors expressly instructed soldiers and civilian interpreters to "soften up" prisoners - code for torture and abuse. While some of the low-level soldiers involved in the abuses were punished, nine years after the notorious photos exposed these crimes to the world, the civilian interrogators who ordered the abuse have not been prosecuted. They have not even been investigated. Instead, the companies that supplied the interrogators and interpreters continued to reap billions in federal contracts and saw their stock prices rise. read more>>>

Iraq's 'Trivial Amount of Weapons of Mass Destruction' (WMD)

2013-05-07T10:17:00.001-04:00

Blair knew Libya bigger threat than Iraq WMDs

Apr 8, 2013 - Hitherto unseen evidence given to the Chilcot Inquiry by British intelligence has revealed that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was told that Iraq had, at most, only a trivial amount of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that Libya was in this respect a far greater threat.
Intelligence officers have disclosed that just the day before Blair went to visit President George W. Bush in April 2002, he accepted this but returned a "changed man" and subsequently ordered the production of dossiers to "find the intelligence" that he wanted to use to justify going to war. read more>>>

"Guantanamo, it's very, very illogical"

2013-05-06T15:17:00.000-04:00

Former Detainee Talks Of Desperation In Guantanamo Bay

May 04, 2013 - Omar Deghayes is one of hundreds of former detainees who have been released from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay over the past several years.
Arrested in Pakistan in 2002, Deghayes, a Libyan citizen, was held as an enemy combatant until his release in December 2007. No charges were ever filed against him.
There are 166 prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, . Some are now even being force-fed to keep them alive.
In his years as a detainee, Deghayes went on three hunger strikes. He tells Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin that the strikes were often prompted by something drastic that happened in the prison.
"If you're so angry and depressed, you just can't feel you want to eat food," he says. "That's how it starts." read more>>>

Guantánamo Prisoner's Memoirs

2013-05-05T14:40:00.000-04:00

Guantánamo Prisoner's Memoirs Offer Rare First-Person Account of Torture

04/30/2013 - A detailed and harrowing first-person narrative of a prisoner's experiences in Guantánamo is available to the public for the first time: Slate today published a three-part series of excerpts from The Guantánamo Memoirs of Mohamedou Ould Slahi. The excerpts were culled from a manuscript hundreds of pages in length, which Slahi provided his attorneys, a pro bono team of ACLU and other lawyers. After being classified for years, Slahi's memoirs – of arrest, rendition, torture, and imprisonment without charge or trial – are finally seeing the light of day, albeit with some redactions.
The excerpts open at the U.S. Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, shortly before Slahi was sent to Guantánamo in August 2002. read more>>>

Iraq A Decade After

2013-05-02T14:14:00.001-04:00

War leaves lasting impact on healthcare

2 May 2013 (IRIN) - Of all the areas of Iraq’s development that were affected by the US-led invasion 10 years ago, healthcare has probably taken the biggest hit.
The impact of the 2003 invasion and subsequent conflict on Iraq’s healthcare system has been well-documented. (Check out consistent coverage of the health consequences of Iraq’s conflict by the Lancet medical journal here.) The conflict shattered Iraq's primary healthcare delivery, disease control and prevention services, and health research infrastructure. Attempts to resurrect Iraq's healthcare system remain hindered by a number of factors, including fragile national security and lack of utilities like water and electricity.
Much of the damage incurred in the first few years of the invasion continues to have an impact today. read more>>>

A decade after US-led forces toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, IRIN examines the impact of the occupation on basic living standards.

Australia's First Widow of the Iraq War Demands Inquiry

2013-05-02T09:23:00.001-04:00

Iraq war widow demands inquiry

April 27, 2013 - Australia's first service widow of the Iraq war has called for an inquiry into the nation's involvement in the 10-year conflict.
Kellie Merritt says Australian and American political leaders ''exaggerated, cherry-picked and manipulated'' intelligence to strengthen the case for invading Iraq in 2003.
Ms Merritt's husband, Flight Lieutenant Paul Pardoel, a former member of the RAAF, died along with nine others when their British RAF Hercules transport plane was shot down by insurgents over Iraq's Tigris River eight years ago.
Restating her calls for an inquiry into Australia's involvement in the invasion and subsequent war, Ms Merritt said lessons should be learnt from the death of her husband and other military personnel and civilians killed in Iraq. read more>>>

The Sisterhood's Hunt for Bin Laden

2013-05-02T07:16:00.000-04:00

Quickly abandoned main missions of why we sent our Military into that region after 9/11 with almost full support of the Country as the drums beat to invade Iraq, they continued the hunt in this mission!

The True Un-Hollywood Story of a Sisterhood's Hunt for Bin Laden

May 1, 2013 - The second anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death brings a revealing new account of what it took to get him. The HBO documentary "Manhunt" by filmmaker Greg Barker, based on the book by journalist Peter Bergen, joins a two-year blizzard of books and films, each purporting to tell the inside story of the hunt for the elusive terrorist and the al-Qaida network he built.
It's a vivid contrast to the Hollywoodized account in "Zero Dark Thirty," the controversial film by Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow. "Zero Dark Thirty" devotes its first third to re-enacting the interrogations of detainees, some using brutal methods like waterboarding, and turns over the last third on a heart-stopping dramatization of the SEAL raid on the Abbottabad compound. (The film strongly suggested that brutal interrogation of detainees produced the crucial links that nailed bin Laden.) Given short shrift was the painstaking, hard-to-dramatize work that linked the two. read more>>>

AIR DATE: May 1, 2013 - At the CIA, a 'Sisterhood' of Analysts Who Helped Find Bin Laden

SUMMARY Cindy Storer and Nada Bakos were part of a majority female team of CIA intelligence analysts -- dubbed "The Sisterhood" -- who contributed to the effort to locate Osama bin Laden. Margaret Warner talks with Storer and Bakos about their intensely detailed work and frustrations with having that work sometimes ignored or belittled. Transcript>>>

Watch A 'Sisterhood' of Analysts Who Helped Find Bin Laden on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

The Women Behind the 'Manhunt' for Osama Bin Laden

May 1, 2013 - Cindy Storer and Nada Bakos were working for the CIA when the airplanes struck the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. But the hunt for terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden didn't start that day. read more>>>

Trailer

bushco Iraq Propaganda 'revisionism' Set in Stone

2013-05-02T06:01:00.000-04:00

Bush spins Iraq decision in library exhibit

Rachel Maddow shares footage of the Iraq invasion portion of the Decision Points Theater exhibit in the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in which visitors are ostensibly.....

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'Special kind of propaganda' at Bush library

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, (ret.), former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, talks with Rachel Maddow about the lies the Bush administration told to bring the U.S. into war in......

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