“Suicide bombers in Iraq have killed at least 12,000 civilians and 200 coalition soldiers, according to a study. The research paper, by Dr Madelyn Hsiao-Rei Hicks of King’s College London, the London-based Iraq Body Count and others, describes suicide bombs in Iraq as ‘a major public health problem,’ killing significantly more civilians than soldiers. …Using […]
12/21/2010
“Iraq’s parliament has approved a new government including all major factions, ending nine months of deadlock after inconclusive elections [on March 7, 2010]. In a special session, MPs [Members of Parliament] voted for the 29 ministerial candidates nominated by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, a Shia, who was reappointed for a second term. But doubts persist […]
12/21/2010
“A federal judge on Tuesday [December 21, 2010] ordered the U.S. government to pay more than $2.5 million in attorney fees and damages after he concluded investigators wiretapped the phones of a suspected terrorist organization without a warrant. U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker said the attorneys for the Ashland, Ore., chapter of the now-defunct […]
12/19/2010
On December 19, 2010, Vice President Joe Biden’s appeared on Meet the Press. Biden “likened the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to a ‘hi-tech terrorist,’ the strongest criticism yet from the Obama administration. Biden claimed that by leaking diplomatic cables Assange had put lives at risk and made it more difficult for the US to conduct […]
12/11/2010
“The Swedish suicide bomb attack [on December 11, 2010, in which the only victim was the bomber himself] has been hailed by an al-Qaida-linked organisation, the Islamic State of Iraq, according to an Islamist website. The al-Hanin website today published a photomontage including a photograph of Iraq-born Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly suggesting he was a member […]
12/7/2010
“About one in four former detainees who have been transferred out of the Guantánamo Bay military prison are confirmed or suspected by American intelligence agencies of having engaged in terrorist activities after their release, the Obama administration said Tuesday [December 7, 2010].” – Charlie Savage, “Some Ex-Detainees Still Tied to Terror,” The New York Times, […]
11/30/2010
“CSF [Coalition Support Fund] funding is the money that the US uses to buy the military cooperation of foreign countries in the so-called war on terror. Nobody receives more CSF money than Pakistan. Over the past nine years, over $7 billion in CSF funds have been transferred to the country, with even more money coming […]
11/19/2010
“The Western timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan was drawn up at one of the largest NATO summit meetings ever held, in Lisbon [Portugal] on November 19, 2010. Heads of state of forty-nine countries agreed to a withdrawal of most of the 150,000 U.S. and NATO forces by 2014 and a transfer of responsibility to Afghan […]
11/16/2010
“The UK government has paid compensation to 16 men who were detained by US forces at Guantanamo Bay. Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said the settlement was confidential–but necessary to avoid a legal battle which could have cost up to £50m. The men, 12 of whom had launched damages claims, allege that London knew or was […]
11/15/2010
An editorial in the November 2010 issue of Inspire, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s online magazine, “lucidly explains that large strikes, such as those of 9/11, are no longer required to defeat the United States. ‘To bring down America we do not need to strike big,’ it claims. ‘In such an environment of security […]