| Obama, Turkish leader discuss Mideast conflicts Posted: 19 Feb 2014 03:57 PM PST TOLUCA, Mexico (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (REH'-jehp TY'-ihp UR'-doh-wahn) have discussed Mideast conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Israel. |
| Americans Think the Afghanistan War Was a Mistake, Just Like All the Other Wars Since 1950 Posted: 19 Feb 2014 03:12 PM PST  The war in Afghanistan is now more unpopular than at any point since its start, according to a new poll from Gallup. A plurality of Americans, albeit a very slim one, now considers the U.S. war in Afghanistan a "mistake." Gallup In comparison, the Afghanistan conflict actually took quite a long time for a plurality of Americans to consider it a mistake. The 12-plus it took for Afghanistan is practically a lifetime.
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| Ex-US soldier who killed Iraqi family hangs self Posted: 19 Feb 2014 11:21 AM PST  LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (AP) — A medical examiner said Wednesday that a former U.S. soldier hanged himself at a federal prison where he was serving life sentences for raping and killing a teenage Iraqi girl and using a shotgun to slay her family.
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| Suspected 'lone wolf' pleads guilty to terror charge in NYC Posted: 19 Feb 2014 11:20 AM PST  By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - An American Muslim convert who admitted he attempted to make a pipe bomb with the intent of influencing U.S. foreign policy pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a New York state terrorism charge in exchange for a 16-year prison sentence. A judge in a packed courtroom at state Supreme Court in Manhattan read the statement by Jose Pimentel, 29, who said his aim was to "undermine support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to effectuate the withdrawal of the United States Forces from the Arab countries in the Middle East." To build the bomb, he also said he read an article called "How to Build a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom" in Inspire, an online magazine published by al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula. Prosecutors characterized him as a "lone wolf" militant bent on attacking veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as police stations and post offices in and around New York City. "Pimentel's conviction ... reminds us that the threat against us from homegrown terrorists is very real," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement.
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| Ex-soldier who killed Iraqi family hangs self Posted: 19 Feb 2014 11:04 AM PST LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A medical examiner said Wednesday that a former soldier hanged himself at a federal prison where he was serving life sentences for raping and killing a teenage Iraqi girl and using a shotgun to slay her family. |
| New York 'lone wolf' terror plotter faces 16 years Posted: 19 Feb 2014 11:00 AM PST  A Muslim convert accused of plotting to bomb targets in New York and kill US soldiers pleaded guilty Wednesday to one charge and faces 16 years in jail, the city attorney's office said. Jose Pimentel, 29, a US citizen born in the Dominican Republic, was arrested by New York police in November 2011 and has been portrayed by officials as a "lone wolf" terrorist inspired by Al-Qaeda. Pimentel on Wednesday pleaded guilty in the New York state supreme court to attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the first degree as a crime of terrorism. Pimentel, who allegedly was building a pipe bomb at the time of his arrest, had been under surveillance by New York police for about two years.
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| Man pleads guilty in NYC pipe bomb terrorism plot Posted: 19 Feb 2014 10:51 AM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — A man accused of building homemade bombs to wage holy war in New York City pleaded guilty Wednesday to a terrorism charge less than a week before his scheduled trial in a rare state-level terrorism case.
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| Security forces in firing line as Iraq attacks kill 12 Posted: 19 Feb 2014 10:40 AM PST  Attacks mainly targeting members of Iraq's security forces in areas north of Baghdad killed 12 people on Wednesday, officials said. Security forces, often plagued by shortcomings such as a lack of discipline and training, are frequently targeted by militants, as the country suffers its worst violence in years. Gunmen attacked an army checkpoint in a village north of Baquba, killing three soldiers and wounding three more, while a bomb targeted a police major general's convoy near Tuz Khurmatu, killing two of his guards and wounding three. Two more roadside bombs exploded in Tuz Khurmatu, killing two brothers and wounding 18 people, while a soldier was killed by a magnetic "sticky bomb" on his vehicle in Tikrit.
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| New York 'lone wolf' terror plotter pleads guilty Posted: 19 Feb 2014 09:57 AM PST A US citizen dubbed a "lone wolf" terrorist and Al-Qaeda sympathizer has pleaded guilty to plotting to bomb targets in New York and kill US soldiers, prosecutors said Wednesday. Jose Pimentel, 29, a Muslim convert born in the Dominican Republic, will be sentenced on March 25, the New York district attorney's office said. Pimentel was arrested by the bomb squad in November 2011 after being under surveillance by New York police for about two years. |
| Islamists order women to don veil in eastern Syria Posted: 19 Feb 2014 09:36 AM PST Islamist rebels in eastern Syria have ordered women to put on the Islamic veil, warning that anyone not doing so would be held to account, in a concerted new attempt by hardliners to impose their strict views on society. In a statement, an organization calling itself the Islamic Law Council of Deir al-Zor gave women until Saturday to don the face veil. It did not say what punishment would befall women who fail to comply with the order. Armed Islamist groups have become the most powerful force in the almost three-year-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, who has long portrayed himself as the defender of a secular order in Syria. |
| Md. man charged in death of 3-year-old adopted son Posted: 19 Feb 2014 09:32 AM PST  DAMASCUS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland man and military combat veteran has been charged in the fatal beating of his 3-year-old son who was adopted months earlier from South Korea, police said.
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| Hacking trial: Blair offered to advise Murdoch Posted: 19 Feb 2014 09:25 AM PST  LONDON (AP) — Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair offered to work as an unofficial adviser to Rupert Murdoch as revelations of illegal phone hacking engulfed the mogul's media empire, according to an email made public Wednesday at the trial of several former Murdoch lieutenants.
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| In Kenya's Muslim port: A tale of two mosques Posted: 19 Feb 2014 09:18 AM PST Kenya's new "war on terror," inaugurated after radical jihadis attacked a swanky Nairobi shopping mall last fall, has rocked the nation, the Muslim community, and the nation's security forces. Since then a major police and military focus has been on the coastal city of Mombasa, and on its gritty working-class district called Majengo that features open-air welders and tin-roofed auto shops. One, Musa Mosque, a towering green structure, acts as a haven for disenfranchised and unemployed youth, and is seen as sympathetic to clerics with links to the radical Al-Shabab sect from Somalia that claimed responsibility for the Westgate Mall massacre. The district's other mosque, Sakina, is moderate. |
| Iraq bombings kill at least 10 people Posted: 19 Feb 2014 08:51 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi police officer says a bomb has ripped through a vegetable market in the town of Mahmoudiyah, killing six civilians and wounding 18 others. The town is located about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad. |
| Senior Iraq police officers jailed over prison breaks Posted: 19 Feb 2014 08:48 AM PST  Iraq's Central Criminal Court sentenced six high-ranking police officers to five years in jail in connection with the escape of hundreds of inmates last year, a statement said on Wednesday. The commander of the 4th Division of the federal police and its chief of staff were among those jailed for five years, the Higher Judicial Council said in the emailed statement. Militants carried out well-coordinated assaults last July on Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad, and Taji prison, north of the capital, with disastrous consequences. Officials said more than 500 inmates escaped and over 50 prisoners and members of the security forces were killed in the violence, which was claimed by powerful jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
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| Syrian rebels rebuff leader's sacking by high command abroad Posted: 19 Feb 2014 08:13 AM PST Their repudiation of the decision was a further sign of deepening disarray within Syria's fragmented opposition movement that has weakened the nearly three-year uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Jostling for influence between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, two major patrons of Assad's civilian and military opponents, has compounded divisions within the opposition. The Supreme Military Council of the rebel Free Syrian Army dismissed Selim Idriss on Sunday after a tenure that saw numerous setbacks in the anti-Assad insurgency as well as what opposition sources said were rising tensions between him and the National Coalition's Saudi-backed chief. A statement by 22 members of the FSA's 30-strong military council said the decision was prompted by incompetence in the rebel command and a need to improve battlefield leadership. |
| Former PM Blair offered to help Murdoch over phone-hacking Posted: 19 Feb 2014 07:51 AM PST  By Michael Holden and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair offered to act as a secret adviser to Rupert Murdoch during his media empire's phone-hacking scandal, suggesting the firm follow steps he took to calm public anger over the Iraq war, a London court heard on Wednesday. Rebekah Brooks, the ex-boss of Murdoch's British newspapers, wrote an email to Murdoch's son James detailing advice Blair had given her during an hour-long phone call in July 2011 at the height of a furore over phone-hacking allegations at the media mogul's News of the World tabloid. The disclosure came as the prosecution wrapped up its case against Brooks, who is on trial at London's Old Bailey on charges relating to phone-hacking which she denies.
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| Former UK PM Blair offered to help Murdoch over phone-hacking Posted: 19 Feb 2014 07:50 AM PST  By Michael Holden and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair offered to act as a secret adviser to Rupert Murdoch during his media empire's phone-hacking scandal, suggesting the firm follow steps he took to calm public anger over the Iraq war, a London court heard on Wednesday. Rebekah Brooks, the ex-boss of Murdoch's British newspapers, wrote an email to Murdoch's son James detailing advice Blair had given her during an hour-long phone call in July 2011 at the height of a furor over phone-hacking allegations at the media mogul's News of the World tabloid. The disclosure came as the prosecution wrapped up its case against Brooks, who is on trial at London's Old Bailey on charges relating to phone-hacking which she denies.
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| Five Best Wednesday Columns Posted: 19 Feb 2014 06:52 AM PST  Julia Ioffe at The New Republic on what the Kiev protests mean to Putin. "I will not explain to you what is happening in Kiev tonight other than to say that it is Vladimir Putin's worst nightmare. The last time that this many people came out to the Independence Square (the Maidan) in Kiev, nine years ago, protesters undid the election of Victor Yanukovich and brought to power a Western-friendly government. "If it can happen in Kiev, in other words, it can happen in Moscow.
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| Iraq oil exports down in January Posted: 19 Feb 2014 06:36 AM PST  Iraq's oil exports fell in January compared to the month before due to bad weather and sabotage by militants, the oil ministry said on Wednesday. Iraq exported 69.1 million barrels of oil in January for an average of 2.22 million barrels per day (bpd), down from 72.6 million barrels for an average of 2.34 million bpd in December, figures released by the ministry showed. Most of Iraq's crude is exported via its southern terminals near the port city of Basra, but a significant portion goes through a northern pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan that is periodically bombed by militants.
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| Al Qaeda-linked group claims Beirut bombings Posted: 19 Feb 2014 02:54 AM PST By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - The al Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed a twin bomb attack in Beirut on Wednesday, saying such attacks would continue until Hezbollah forces withdrew from the fighting in Syria and its own fighters were released from Lebanese jails. The radical Lebanese group, which claimed the attack on its Twitter account, also said it was responsible for a November 19 attack on the Iranian embassy that killed 23 people, using the same tactic of twin suicide bombs. Hezbollah is a powerful Shi'ite Muslim political and militant group in Lebanon that is funded by Iran. The group has sent hundreds of fighters to neighboring Syria, giving a boost to its ally President Bashar al-Assad against mainly Sunni rebels seeking to topple him. |
| Oscar’s Worst Smear Campaigns Posted: 19 Feb 2014 02:45 AM PST  'The Wolf of Wall Street' and 'Blue Jasmine' have come under fire this awards season by the media, but the practice is nothing new.
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| Nugent: Prez Is 'Subhuman Mongrel' Posted: 19 Feb 2014 02:45 AM PST  The raging, aging rock star's recent slur against Obama is just one among many of his linguistic stylings.
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| Ex-soldier dies in prison; killed Iraqi family Posted: 19 Feb 2014 01:44 AM PST LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A former soldier likely committed suicide in prison where he was serving several life terms for gunning down four members of an Iraqi family while he was deployed to their country. |
| As Syria threat expands, Obama mulls options Posted: 19 Feb 2014 01:41 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — For the United States, Syria's civil war is threatening to start hitting closer to home.
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| Quotations in the News Posted: 19 Feb 2014 12:02 AM PST "We will not go anywhere from here. This is an island of freedom and we will defend it." — Ukraine opposition leader Vitali Klitschko, a former heavyweight boxing champion, to anti-government protesters in Kiev. |
| Journalist on assignment deaths total 134 last year: report Posted: 18 Feb 2014 11:32 PM PST  One hundred and thirty-four journalists and media support staff were killed while on reporting assignments last year, most of them targeted deliberately, the London-based International News Safety Institute (INSI) said on Tuesday. Of these, 65 died covering armed conflicts - primarily in Syria, where 20 were killed, and Iraq, where the death total was 16 - while 51 were killed in peacetime covering issues like crime and corruption, and 18 died in accidents. The total was down from 152 deaths recorded in 2012, but there was an accompanying rise in assaults, threats and kidnappings directed at journalists which largely go unreported, said the INSI study, "Killing the Messenger." The institute, funded by major world news organisations including Reuters, has been issuing the report since 1996. Its main work is providing security training for journalists reporting in dangerous situations.
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| Former US soldier jailed for Iraq atrocities dies Posted: 18 Feb 2014 06:28 PM PST  A former American soldier jailed for raping an Iraqi teenager and executing the girl and her family in 2006 has died in an apparent suicide in prison, a spokesman said. Steven Dale Green, convicted in 2009 over one of the most chilling crimes involving US troops in Iraq, died Saturday in Tucson, Arizona. Guards discovered the 28-year-old "unresponsive" in his cell last Thursday, during regular rounds, John Stahley, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said in a statement released Tuesday. "The incident is being investigated as an apparent suicide" and foul play is not suspected, he added.
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| U.S. soldier convicted of Iraq rape, murders found hanged in prison Posted: 18 Feb 2014 06:12 PM PST  The death on Saturday of Steven Dale Green, 28, at the United States Penitentiary in Tucson, Arizona, was being investigated as a suicide, the paper said. Green was convicted in 2009 of the rape and murder of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi and the shooting deaths of her father, mother and 6-year-old sister in Mahmudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad.
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| US struggles to find new options for Syria Posted: 18 Feb 2014 05:02 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — With peace talks failing, Syria's government on the offensive and moderate rebels pushed aside by al-Qaida-linked militants, the Obama administration is struggling for new ideas to halt a savage civil war. |
