| Five years a POW, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl released by Afghan Taliban Posted: 31 May 2014 11:30 AM PDT The handover of Sgt. Bergdahl was made to US Special Forces, apparently without incident. In a White House statement, President Obama said, "On behalf of the American people, I was honored to call his parents to express our joy that they can expect his safe return, mindful of their courage and sacrifice throughout this ordeal." "Sergeant Bergdahl's recovery is a reminder of America's unwavering commitment to leave no man or woman in uniform behind on the battlefield." In separate statements, Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel both thanked the Amir of Qatar for helping bring about Bergdahl's release. |
| Clashes near Iraq's Fallujah as conflict toll reaches 366 Posted: 31 May 2014 11:23 AM PDT  Clashes erupted between Iraqi troops and anti-government fighters on the outskirts of Fallujah on Saturday, as the militant-held city's main hospital said 366 people had been killed in the months-long conflict. The latest unrest comes after security forces pressed an apparently unsuccessful assault into the city, which is west of Baghdad and has been out of government control since the beginning of the year. Clashes on the city's northern fringes, in the region of Saqlawiya, broke out earlier on Saturday between Iraqi security forces and anti-government fighters, a tribal leader told AFP on condition of anonymity. "With aerial cover, they tried to enter Fallujah from the Saqlawiya area," he said.
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| Syria tunnel bombing kills 20 soldiers Posted: 31 May 2014 10:09 AM PDT  At least 20 Syrian regime forces were killed Saturday when Islamist rebels planted explosives in a tunnel under an army position in the northern city of Aleppo, a monitor said. Aleppo's historic Old City has seen horrific violence ever since the rebels launched a major offensive against Syria's former economic hub in July 2012. "Islamist rebels detonated a tunnel near the Zahrawi market in the Old City of Aleppo, killing at least 20 army soldiers and pro-regime militiamen," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Fighting broke out after the explosion, and at least one rebel was killed, said the Britain-based Observatory.
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| Why Eric Shinseki departure won't quiet VA scandal furor Posted: 31 May 2014 05:50 AM PDT This is equally true for Democrats and Republicans, which makes veterans' services always political, often partisan. Under pressure from lawmakers of both parties and, apparently, the White House, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki resigned Friday. |
| Obama's counterterrorism doctrine: Let locals lead the fight Posted: 31 May 2014 05:40 AM PDT  By David Rhode NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a foreign policy address this week, U.S. President Barack Obama gave his clearest outline yet of his counterterrorism strategy. Al Qaeda splinter groups remain the largest threat to the United States, he said, but Washington must respond to it in a new way: by training local security forces, not deploying American ground troops. "We have to develop a strategy that matches this diffuse threat - one that expands our reach without sending forces that stretch our military too thin, or stir up local resentments," Obama said. "We need partners to fight terrorists alongside us." But critics say America's past efforts to train local security forces have had mixed results. Washington has a poor track record of applying the long-term resources, funding and attention needed to carry out such efforts successfully.
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| Dressing the VA's wounds: What Obama faces now Posted: 31 May 2014 04:07 AM PDT  By Julia Edwards and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When U.S. President Barack Obama accepted the resignation on Friday of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, he said his priority now was fixing the troubled agency whose officials are accused of covering up delays in providing healthcare for U.S. veterans. As Obama himself said, the sprawling Veterans Affairs department "has had problems for a very long time," including management problems. Obama noted on Friday that the VA enrolled 2 million new veterans in healthcare under Shinseki's watch. Obama and many Democratic lawmakers say that the increase calls for more doctors and nurses to prevent veterans from having to endure long wait times for care. In February, Senate Republicans blocked a bill by Bernard Sanders, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats and chairs the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, to expand veterans' benefits.
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| Iraq FA holds poll amid FIFA suspension threat Posted: 31 May 2014 02:26 AM PDT  Iraq's football association is due to finally hold long-postponed elections for its board Saturday, following threats from the sport's global governing body that postponing them any further risks indefinite suspension. IFA board elections have long been plagued by chaos and allegations of political meddling, with polls originally held in July 2011 marred by claims of malpractice, while efforts in recent months to finally hold a new vote have been blighted by multiple delays and apparent threats of violence. The never-ending crises, which mirror the standoffs and deadlocks in Iraq's national politics, have overshadowed a rare issue with cross-sectarian appeal in a country grappling with fragile communal ties amid deteriorating security. The main poll pits current president Najeh Hmoud against his deputy Abdulkhaliq Massud, after contested elections won by Hmoud in 2011 were annulled by the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport based on claims of multiple problems with vote.
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| Vets around the country describe VA experiences Posted: 30 May 2014 11:22 PM PDT  The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs became an explosive political story this week, culminating with the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.
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| Wounded US vets return to Afghanistan to confront demons Posted: 30 May 2014 10:37 PM PDT  Forward Operating Base Shank (Afghanistan) (AFP) - Seven years ago, Jose Navarro's platoon was ambushed and nearly overrun by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. But this week, after dozens of surgeries, Navarro returned to Afghanistan in an army uniform, flying in a military helicopter with another soldier wounded in the same attack. Washington is winding down its 32,000 troop deployment in Afghanistan after nearly 13 years of war, with President Barack Obama announcing this week that all US forces will leave by the end of 2016. While an end is now in sight for America's longest war, many of the more than 19,000 Americans wounded in Afghanistan will be coping with injuries for years to come.
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| THE OBAMA DOCTRINE Posted: 30 May 2014 10:06 PM PDT For nearly two centuries the United States has conducted its Western Hemisphere diplomacy according to the precepts of the Monroe Doctrine, promulgated in 1823 and designed to keep European powers out of hemispheric affairs. America's involvement in Latin America was expanded substantially by the 1904 Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which proclaimed American willingness to intervene in the region. And America's reach was extended again by the Truman Doctrine of 1947, designed to contain communism as the Cold War chilled. Have we just witnessed the expression of the Obama Doctrine, at once more expansive and less ambitious than the doctrines that preceded it? |
