War Glance
THE Iraq war dossier was filled with “lies” about dictator Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the Chilcot inquiry heard yesterday.
Middle East expert Carne Ross accused the Blair government of presiding over a misleading document that had been re-edited.
IRAQ WAR DOSSIER 'FULL OF LIES'
Iraq inquiry: Government ‘intentionally and substantially’ exaggerated WMD threat
Carne Ross, who was First Secretary responsible for the Middle East at the United Nations, accused the former government of issuing “lies” to the public about the dictator’s capacity to launch weapons of mass destruction.
He said that it was a "disgrace" that ministers failed to exhaust all peaceful options before going to war against Iraq.
Five US soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Five US soldiers have been killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan, Nato has said. Three died in eastern Afghanistan and two were killed in separate roadside bombings in the south of the country.
More than 350 Nato soldiers have been killed this year as the Taliban steps up its campaign.
Suicide attack in Pakistan tribal village kills dozens
At least 50 people have been killed in a suicide bombing in a Pakistani tribal village on the border with Afghanistan, officials said. At least 100 people were wounded in the explosion in Yakaghund village in the Mohmand tribal region.
The bomber came on a motorbike and blew himself up near the gate of the local administrator's office, witnesses said. Mohmand is part of Pakistan's tribal regions where the Taliban and al-Qaeda have a strong presence.
Afghan Companies Say U.S. Middlemen Failed to Pay Big Bills for Work
A number of Afghan construction companies working on contracts for American and NATO military bases in Afghanistan have accused American middlemen of reneging on payments for supplies and services, and in one case of leaving the country owing Afghan companies hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars.
The failure of American companies to pay for contracted work has left hundreds of Afghan workers unpaid in southern Afghanistan, and dozens of factories and small businesses so deep in debt that Afghan and foreign officials fear the fallout will undermine the United States-led counterinsurgency effort to win the support of the Afghan people.
War zone drone crashes add up
The U.S. military often portrays its drone aircraft as high-tech marvels that can be operated seamlessly from thousands of miles away. But Pentagon accident reports reveal that the pilotless aircraft suffer from frequent system failures, computer glitches and human error.
Design and system problems were never fully addressed in the haste to push the fragile plane into combat over Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks more than eight years ago. Air Force investigators continue to cite pilot mistakes, coordination snafus, software failures, outdated technology and inadequate flight manuals.
US TEMPORARILY Cuts Aid After Millions Siphoned Off to Dubai
Brigadier General Mohammed Asid Jabarkhel tells Der Spiegel "Of course I know what's going on here." He is referring to the huge amounts of money regularly being secreted out of Afghanistan by plane in boxes and suitcases. According to some estimates, since 2007, at least $3 billion (€2.4 billion) in cash has left the country in this way.
The preferred destination for these funds is Dubai, the tax haven in the Persian Gulf. And, given the fact that Afghanistan's total GDP amounts to the equivalent of $13.5 billion, there is no way that the funds involved in this exodus are merely the proceeds of legal business transactions.
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