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Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Go Online

CitizenSugar — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:30:00 -0800

The military's intelligence battalion might think Twitter poses a danger, but two independent groups — Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the Ad Council — have turned to social networking tools to help veterans connect with each other. The two groups have created an online community exclusively for veterans of these most recent wars: CommunityofVeterans.org.

Since veterans make up less than one percent of the population, they often feel isolated from others facing similar challenges. The new site hopes to bring together the veterans, while also providing information about readjusting to family life, navigating the Department of Veteran Affairs, getting help for PTSD, and taking advantage of the GI Bill.

The US military has appeared increasingly willing to use the technology of the people, investing $50 million in video games to help recruit and train soldiers. Now veterans can turn to social networks to help them transition back into civilian life. Check out the TV ad for the site, and tell me what you think.

Front Page: Police Defuse Bomb in Paris Department Store

CitizenSugar — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 07:49:15 -0800

French police found a bomb in the Printemps department store, after a warning about the explosive was sent to a French news agency. A previously unknown group, demanding French withdrawal from Afghanistan, has claimed responsibility. — New York Times
President-elect Barack Obama continues to fill out his cabinet, naming the head of Chicago public schools Arne Duncan as education secretary and Steven Chu as energy secretary. — CNN

Despite warnings of fraud as early as 1999, the SEC did not investigate Bernard Madoff, who was charged last week with fraud after he allegedly volunteered the fact that he took $50 billion from investors. — Washington Post
A top high-school football recruit died in Mississippi of a possibly self-inflicted gun-shot wound, after a sheriff pulled him over last week. The NAACP has determined through its own investigation that his death was not a suicide. — Mississippi Press

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Music Is the New Torture: 8 Songs to Break Detainees Down To

CitizenSugar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:30:43 -0800

If simulated drowning isn't enough, you can add music to America's weapons of mass degradation. Amped-up tunes are used as "sonic bludgeons" at US military prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay.

Songs such as Britney Spears's "Baby One More Time" are turned up and set to repeat to create fear, disorientation, and a prolonged capture shock. It can cause long-term psychiatric problems if blasted for extended periods of time. And it is!

Prisoners, who grew up in Afghanistan under the music-banning Taliban, are hypersensitive. The blasted music leads some to scream and smash their heads against walls. "Plenty," one former prisoner said, "lost their mind."

A Guantanamo interrogator bragged in an FBI memo that he only needed "four days to 'break' someone by alternating 16 hours of loud music with just four hours of silence." So, mission accomplished?

What's Guantanamo breaking down to? To see the top eight songs,

Too Fat to Fight? German Troops Overweight, Filled With Beer

LibertySugar — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:30:37 -0800

The extra calories from beer are weighing down German troops fighting in Afghanistan. American and British troops have strict orders to stay sober in that country, but the Germans get to drink two pints a day.

Germany's parliament has looked into how a lack-of-alcohol ban has impacted the mission. The Times of London reports that the investigation revealed that in 2007 the 3,500 troops in Afghanistan drank 1.7 million pints of beer and 90,000 bottles of wine. These new findings help explain an earlier report that showed 40 percent of German soldiers were overweight, a significantly higher figure than the general German population rate.

Government restrictions mean German soldiers participate in passive operations in Afghanistan, and apparently the government will not use the word for "war" in press statements about the effort there. Do you think Germany's cautious war policy has made the troops more passive? Either way, I'm sure life in Afghanistan isn't one big happy hour.

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Obama In Talks to Keep on Bush's Defense Secretary Gates

CitizenSugar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:30:00 -0800

Not everyone in the Bush Administration will be out on their behinds on Jan. 20. Barack Obama is considering keeping on Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Gates, a former CIA head, has received widespread praise for his work as defense secretary since replacing Donald Rumsfeld.

Since he has led the Pentagon since 2006, Gates could be the person best situated to coordinate Obama's plan to withdraw from Iraq and increase troops in Afghanistan. Even so, keeping a Republican who has been leading Bush's war policy may take the team of rivals idea a bit too far.

Is Obama responsible and wise to keep on Gates in order to make the transition of power and situation in the Middle East run smoothly, or does a new direction require a new person in such an important cabinet position?

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Report: US Airstrike Kills 23 Children, 10 Women in Afghanistan

LibertySugar — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:25:05 -0800

Report: US Airstrike Kills 23 Children, 10 Women in Afghanistan US-led forces allegedly struck a wedding party in southern Afghanistan yesterday, killing mostly civilians. The Afghan president congratulated Barack Obama and called on him Wednesday to halt civilian casualties as villagers said US warplanes bombed the wedding party, killing 37 people, most of them children.

Almost 200,000 Flee Violence in Pakistan

LibertySugar — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:30:00 -0700

Following an offensive by Pakistani forces against militants, as many as 190,000 Pakistanis and Afghans have fled their homes, according to reports given to the UN High Commission Refugees. Most refugees, running from the clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, are staying with host families in either country.

In the Bajaur region of Pakistan, government jets hit insurgent trenches, killing five, today. Another attack left 12 extremists dead, along with two progovernment tribesmen. Since the offensive began,1,000 rebel fighters and Taliban militants have been killed, according to Pakistan.

Today's strikes came the same day religious scholars and political parties announced that suicide bombs violate Islam and are illegitimate in Pakistan. Looks like the Pakistani government is going on the military and moral offensive to stop extremists. Hopefully the refugees make it home safely.

Srouce

Front Page: Global Markets Rally, Krugman Wins Nobel for Economics, Afghanistan Commander is Hopeful

CitizenSugar — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:56:07 -0700

Global Markets Rally:
Banking stocks in Asia and Europe jumped this morning after European leaders announced plans to inject capital into banks and guarantee interbank lending. Rising between 5 and 10 percent, the rallying world markets are hoped to have a positive impact on the US market which opened moments ago, up, but with the Dow still in the 8,000s.

Krugman Wins Nobel for Economics:
US Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has won this year's Nobel Prize for Economics. He won for his analysis of trade patterns and new theories that answer questions on free trade and globalization. Krugman says he hopes the $1.4 million prize won't change his life: "I hope it does not lead me into going to a lot of purely celebratory events."
Afghanistan Commander is Hopeful:
The top American commander in Afghanistan said yesterday he wants doubters to believe that the war against the Taliban can be won. Gen. McKiernan leads over 65,000 troops and said at a conference in Kabul that there have been "too many" reports about losing the war in Afghanistan. He says, “I absolutely reject that idea, I don’t believe it. It is true that there are many places in this country that don’t have an adequate level of security. We don’t have progress as even and as fast as any of us would like. But we are not losing in Afghanistan.”

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Front Page: Nobel Peace Prize Awarded, Dow Falls Below 8,000 at Opening, NATO to Attack Opium Labs

CitizenSugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:54:05 -0700

Nobel Peace Prize Awarded:
The 2008 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded this morning to former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. Chosen from a group of 197 people for his decades of cautious diplomatic work, the Nobel committee says he was picked, “for his important efforts in several continents and over three decades to resolve international conflicts," specifically his work to end South African domination in Namibia.

Dow Falls Below 8,000 at Opening:
Moments after the opening bell this morning, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below 8,000 amid news that the global markets are in a selloff. European markets fell more than 10 percent at opening and shares in Asia continued to decline amid fears of a huge global recession. One expert says, “We are fighting really dire fundamentals. It will require restoring trust and confidence before a sustained rebound will be possible.” Perhaps addressing that confidence, President Bush is set to give an address at 10:25 a.m. ET.

NATO to Attack Opium Labs:
NATO has just agreed to allow its troops to attack opium factories in Afghanistan for the first time. According to a NATO spokesman the troops will be acting "against facilities and facilitators" to stop those using the drugs to finance the Taliban. Some NATO members have expressed concern that the crackdown will cause a backlash against the troops. Afghanistan supplies more than 90 percent of the world's opium.

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Front Page: Study Pegs Afghanistan as Crisis, State Ownership of Banks Considered, Zimbabwe's Inflation Hits Extreme High

CitizenSugar — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:00:26 -0700

Study Pegs Afghanistan Crisis:
A report by US intelligence agencies says Afghanistan is in a "downward spiral" and injects doubt over the ability of the Afghan government to overcome the Taliban's influence. The strength of the government has been severely compromised by corruption within Karzai's administration. The conclusions of the report indicate it should have been central to the war on terror, an effort now in need of more international troops.

State Ownership of Banks Considered:
The White House is considering ownership stakes in some US banks as a way of stemming the severe global credit crisis. Though no decision has been made, the $700 billion Bailout Bill allows the Treasury Department to get ownership stakes in financial institutions in exchange for the bailout.

Zimbabwe's Inflation Hits Extreme High:
The official annual inflation rate of Zimbabwe has hit 231,000,000 percent. The new astronomical number is up from 11,000,000 percent a year ago. The power-sharing deal between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai did little to reverse the downward spiral of the economy. The UN estimates two million people are in need of food aid, a number that will rise to half the population by early next year.

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