The U.S. occupation force and its Kurdish proxy SDF in northeastern Syria are supposed to fight the Islamic State in its last hold out northeast of Euphrates. But the operations against the handful of towns ISIS (grey) still holds – launched only after long and unexplained delays – shows little progress. Last week it received […]
Defense & Security
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Nearly a Decade Awaiting Trial, Now Freed…
In the first test of a newly signed law that significantly narrows California’s felony murder rule, a judge today ordered the immediate release of a man who has spent nearly a decade awaiting trial in double murder. Neko Wilson, now 36, had initially faced the death penalty in connection with the July 2009 murders of […]
This Is What Saudi Arabia’s Influence Network in Washington Looks Like…
One of the quieter revelations of the investigation by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is the murky world of foreign lobbying. Among the charges faced by President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was that he failed to report income earned from his lobbying efforts on behalf of Ukrainian officials. What was unusual about […]
Trump Vows to Send Military, Close Southern Border to Block Migrants…
As another “migrant caravan” has swelled to more than 4,000 hopeful “asylum seekers” marching toward the US’s southern border, recently prompting the Mexican government to dispatch 500 additional border guards to its border with Guatemala, President Trump threatened to send in the military and close the US’s southern border with Mexico in a tweet Thursday […]
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Insane!: 70-Year-Old Vietnam War Hero Heads to Jail for 7 Years for Decades-Old Rifle Purchase…
A decorated Vietnam veteran and firearms collector was sentenced to seven years in federal prison Wednesday for a decades-old purchase of a rifle. Alfred Pick, 70, purchased the M14 — a fully automatic weapon illegal to own — at a Ft. Worth gun show in the early 1980s, the Dallas Morning News reported. The rifle, […]
Vanessa Beeley Meets Syrian White Helmets and Armed Group Leader in Daraa Al Balad…
“If you shout at us we will cry, we are so sensitive” Abu Mohanad Al Mahamid told me on the 20th September 2018. Al Mahamid is the leader of the still-functioning White Helmet center in Dara’a Al Balad to the south of Damascus in Syria. Al Mahamid had donned his white helmet for the camera […]
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Two Guantánamo Detainees Refused to Leave. Now They’re Stuck There…
Two detainees at the Guantánamo prison who were cleared for release during the Obama administration refused to cooperate with authorities arranging their departures and now can’t leave even if they wanted to because the Trump administration has ceased most prisoner releases. The prison’s commander, Rear Adm. John Ring, disclosed the unusual standoff in remarks to […]
Junket Justice: How Special Interests Pay to Schmooze DOJ and FBI Officials…
Of all the agencies in the federal government that should be immune to special-interest schmoozing, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and its premier law enforcement agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives top the list. Their independence from influence, and their […]
Taliban Attack Meeting Attended by General Miller, Kills Kandahar Police Chief…
The Taliban claimed credit for an attack at a high level meeting in Kandahar that killed General Raziq, the province’s chief of police and arguably the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan, as well as the head of the province’s National Directorate of Security. General Austin Miller, the commander of Resolute Support, was present but […]
Ex-FBI Agent Gets 4 Years in Prison for Leaking Documents…
A former FBI agent in Minnesota who admitted to leaking classified defense documents to a reporter was sentenced Thursday to 4 years in prison. Terry James Albury, 39, pleaded guilty in April to one count each of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and unauthorized retention of national defense information. Prosecutors had asked that Albury […]
The Innocence of Abu Zubaydah…
I have defended men and women on death row for nearly all of my thirty years as a lawyer, and have represented people caught up in the excesses of the “war on terror” since very shortly after that war was launched. For more than a decade, I have been counsel for Zayn al-Abedin Muhammad Hussein, […]
50 Years Later, Marine Gunny to Be Awarded the Medal of Honor for Hue City Heroics…
Retired Marine Sgt. Maj. John Canley will receive the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, during a ceremony Oct. 17, the White House announced Tuesday. Canley will be honored nearly a half century after his heroic actions in Hue City, Vietnam, saved the lives of Marines under his command. Then-Gunnery Sgt. Canley […]
Treasury Employee Arrested. Accused of Leaking Bank Records on Manafort, Gates, Russia…
The U.S. has arrested a Treasury Department employee for leaking confidential bank records pertaining to Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, the Russian Embassy and Maria Butina, who’s been accused of being a Russian agent. Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards , a senior adviser at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN, was accused of leaking Suspicious […]
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American Mercenaries Were Hired to Assassinate Politicians in the Middle East…
Cradling an AK-47 and sucking a lollipop, the former American Green Beret bumped along in the back of an armored SUV as it wound through the darkened streets of Aden. Two other commandos on the mission were former Navy SEALs. As elite US special operations fighters, they had years of specialized training by the US […]
Blackwater Founder Meets with Afghan Powerbrokers, Aims to Privatize War…
The founder of the U.S.-based Blackwater security firm has been meeting with powerbrokers in Afghanistan to rally support for his plan to privatize the Afghan war. Erik Prince heads the private military company known as Academi, renamed in 2011. According to a report in The New York Times, Prince sent a letter to Afghan President […]
Hurricane Cost May Skyrocket As Billions in Stealth Fighter Jets Unaccounted for; Tyndall AFB “Complete Loss”…
After Hurricane Michael rendered Tyndall Air Force Base a “complete loss” from “widespread, catastrophic damage” – questions remain over nearly two-dozen F-22 Stealth Fighters which are unaccounted for. According to the New York Times, Tyndall is home to 55 stealth fighters, “which cost a dizzying $339 million each.” Before Michael hit, the Air Force evacuated […]
FBI Steals Treasure Hunters’ Civil War Gold Worth Up to $250 Million…
Dennis and Kem Parada have spent years prospecting for a legendary stash of Civil War gold in Dents Run, Pennsylvania. They aren’t the first to search for the cache. Generations of treasure hunters have tried to find the gold, which is believed to have been lost or stolen around the time of the 1863 Battle […]
Parkland Documentary Includes Graphic, Unblurred Cellphone Footage…
The first full length documentary on the Florida school shooting that left 17 dead shows graphic cellphone footage from inside the school and much of it is not blurred. Charlie Minn is the director of “Parkland: Inside Building 12”, a graphic, two-hour retelling of the Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The […]
Alleged Russian Spy Presses Feds for Arrest Docs, Other Records…
Accused Russian spy Maria Butina on Sunday filed a letter requesting the government turn over criminal records, arrest reports and details on witnesses prosecutors might use to build their case against her. The eight-page discovery letter Butina’s attorneys filed on Sunday is a common request for documents in a criminal case and seeks information the […]
‘Terminator’ Tanks with ‘Invisibility’ Cloaking Will Fight Future Wars…
Imagine if the United States military could send combat vehicles like tanks into battle with enemies – but without a single American on the battlefield – instead, the vehicles drive and fight autonomously. And what if these heavily armed and armored smart vehicles were also invisible to the enemy? Now factor in this – these […]