In the 13 years since 9/11, the United States’ “War on Terror” could be considered a failure. ISIS swept aside the US-backed Iraqi army earlier this year, the Taliban still launches deadly attacks, including an assault on a school last month that killed 145 people, and American interventions only seem to worsen sectarian bloodshed in the region.
The geopolitical disaster has come at a tremendous cost to American taxpayers, according to a recently released report by the Congressional Research Service, a non-partisan government organization. The report estimated that since 9/11 American taxpayers have shelled out close to $1.6 trillion on war spending (that’s $14 million an hour), with almost 95 percent of that money going projects related to Iraq and Afghanistan.
$14 Million an Hour: The War on 'Terror' Has Cost $1.6 Trillion
Trains plus crude oil equals trouble down the track
Every day, strings of black tank cars filled with crude oil roll slowly across a long wooden railroad bridge over the Black Warrior River.
The 116-year-old span is a landmark in this city of 95,000 people, home to the University of Alabama. Residents have proposed and gotten married next to the bridge. Children play under it. During Alabama football season, die-hard Crimson Tide fans set up camp in its shadow.
But with some timber pilings so badly rotted that you can stick your hand right through them, and a “MacGyver”-esque combination of plywood, concrete and plastic pipe employed to patch up others, the bridge demonstrates the limited ability of government and industry to manage the hidden risks of a sudden shift in energy production.
And it shows why communities nationwide are in danger.
Four deaths on a Gaza Beach: The images unseen
Freelance photographer Lazar Simeonov watched from his Gaza apartment window on the afternoon July 16 as three Israeli shells struck a shack at the edge of a beach where seven young boys played. When the dust settled, four of them — all members of the Bakr extended family — lay dead, apparently victims of a mistake by the Israeli military on the ninth day of its Operation Protective Edge in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Simeonov and a number of other foreign journalists staying nearby ran to the beach. He was horrified by the scene he found there: Four children lay dead on the sand and nearby dock, their lifeless bodies torn apart by the blasts.
Expert: Fired employee may have been behind Sony hack
A former employee angry over being fired may have organized the hacking of Sony Pictures' computer network, a security expert says.
The FBI has blamed the government of North Korea, allegedly as reprisal for the movie The Interview. The movie depicts a talk show host and producer who score an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and are then recruited by the CIA to assassinate him.
Florida congressman denied access to censored pages from 9/11 report
The U.S. House Intelligence Committee has denied a Florida congressman’s request for access to 28 classified pages from the 2002 report of Congress’ Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, told BrowardBulldog.org he made his request at the suggestion of House colleagues who have read them as they consider whether to support a proposed resolution urging President Obama to open those long-censored pages to the public.
Meet Alfreda Bikowsky, the Senior Officer at the Center of the CIA’s Torture Scandals
NBC News yesterday called her a “key apologist” for the CIA’s torture program. A follow-up New Yorker article dubbed her “The Unidentified Queen of Torture” and in part “the model for the lead character in ‘Zero Dark Thirty.’” Yet in both articles she was anonymous.
The person described by both NBC and The New Yorker is senior CIA officer Alfreda Frances Bikowsky. Multiple news outlets have reported that as the result of a long string of significant errors and malfeasance, her competence and integrity are doubted — even by some within the agency.
N. Korea compares Obama to monkey in hacking row
North Korea has compared President Barack Obama to a monkey and blamed the U.S. for shutting down its Internet amid the hacking row over the movie "The Interview."
The North has denied involvement in a crippling cyberattack on Sony Pictures, but has expressed fury over the comedy, which depicts the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Sony Pictures initially called off the release of the film, citing threats of terror attacks against U.S. movie theaters. Obama criticized Sony's decision, and the movie opened this past week.
Selling 'Peace Groups' on US-Led Wars
Since the anti-war protests on Vietnam, the U.S. government has made "perception management" of the American people a high priority, feeding them a steady diet of propaganda about foreign crises, even getting "peace groups" to buy into "pro-democracy" wars.
"War is peace" double-speak has become commonplace these days. And, the more astute foreign policy journalists and commentators are beginning to realize the extent of how "liberal interventionists" work in sync with neocon warhawks to produce and sustain a perpetual state of U.S. war.
Israel police reveal huge political corruption investigation
Israel’s police have said they are investigating dozens of public figures and politicians in a major corruption case that could affect upcoming elections.
The politicians involved were not named in Wednesday’s announcement, but after a year-long covert operation, police said they are investigating 30 suspects including a deputy minister, a former minister, mayors and others.
In a statement, police said officials are suspected of nepotism, and illegal transferring of funds.
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