REBEL REPORTS– A couple of years ago, Blackwater executive Joseph Schmitz seemed to see asilver lining for mercenary companies with the prospect of US forces being withdrawn or reduced in Iraq. “There is a scenario where we could as a government, the United States, could pull back the military footprint,” Schmitz said. “And there would then be more of a … Read More
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD– The US State Department is to more than double the number of security contractors it employs in Iraq to around 7000, filling a gap left by departing troops, the New York Times reported on Thursday. The newspaper said the contractors would be deployed to defend five fortified compounds that will be left behind as US combat forces … Read More
WASHINGTON POST– Off a dusty street flanked by piles of rubble and bombed-out car skeletons, the Saleh family is rebuilding their home with American aid money they got because three family members were accidentally killed in crossfire between U.S. forces and insurgents. In another neighborhood of the battleground city of Ramadi, a new boat motor and fishing nets are tucked … Read More
COMMON DREAMS– Anyone who thinks the United States is really going to withdraw from Afghanistan in July 2011 needs to come to this giant air base an hour away from Kabul. There’s construction everywhere. It’s exactly what you wouldn’t expect from a transient presence. Step off a C-17 cargo plane, as I did very early Friday morning, and you see … Read More
DEMOCRACY NOW– RUSH TRANSCRIPT AMY GOODMAN: President Obama said Monday the US military is on target to withdraw all its combat troops from Iraq by the end of this month. Speaking before the Disabled American Veterans national convention in Atlanta, the President pledged the American presence in Iraq would soon transform from a primarily military to a diplomatic one. PRESIDENT … Read More
