The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Middle East" ...
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Benghazi: US Consulate Attack
On September 11, when a militant group overran the US consulate in Benghazi resulting in the death of the ambassador, the initial information was contradictory. Much of it got mixed up with other reports out of the Middle East about anti-American demonstrations over an inflammatory film on the Internet that was said to insult Islam. Damon arrived quickly in Benghazi to sort out the conflicting information and went to the burnt consulate ruins, which, though looted, held valuable clues to the truth. Her reporting revealed that there was not a demonstration and that it appeared to have been a planned attack that unfolded simultaneously from three sides. She discovered that U.S. diplomats had been warned by Libyan officials three days before the attack that the security situation in the city was out of their control. Though her reporting received harsh public criticism from the State Department at the time, the U.S. government’s own investigation later proved her reporting to be accurate in an episode that continues to reverberate politically. Damon also spoke to Libyans that tried to save the ambassador that night, shedding light on what happened to him during his final hours. While she was in Benghazi, demonstrations erupted against the militia believed to be responsible for the attack, and Damon further reported on the rise in extremism in the newly-liberated country. Her reporting provided additional valuable context about the milieu in which the consulate attack occurred.
Tags: Middle East; Libya; U.S. ambassador; Benghazi; militant group
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The Secret Sins of Koch Industries
In a four-continent investigation involving 16 reporters, Bloomberg Business News unearthed a multi-decade pattern of crimes and misdeeds by Koch Industries, the company run by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch. Using never-before-published internal documents and on-the-record interviews with former employees, the article reveals that Koch Industries paid bribes to win contracts in Africa, India, and the Middle East.
Tags: koch industries; charles koch; david koch; brothers; bribes; contracts
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Following the Bloodshed of America's Wars in the Muslim World
The book examines the Iraqi civil war, its causes and how it came to an end. It provides the persepective of Iraqi militiamen, Iraqi security forces, Iraqi civilians, and American soldiers, officers and officials.
Tags: Middle East; counterinsurgency; Iraq; Taliban; Aghanistan; War on Terrorism
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"Inside Iran"
Just before Iran's presidential elections, NBC News goes inside the country and takes an in-depth look at the lives of its young people. The report reveals "an Iran unknown to most Americans." It's a place where hostility toward the West is low and the acceptance of differences is high.
Tags: Islamic Republic; presidential elections; Middle East; Muslim; Ann Curry; Islam; Hezbollah; Hamas; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Tehran
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"Mystery Terrorist and Elusive Terrorist"
After serving just half of his sentence, a convicted terrorist was released from prison and deported, though his location is unclear. Another terrorist and bomb maker's whereabouts are unknown. AP reporters Adam Goldman and Randy Herschaft investigate the terrorists and report that that latter of the two was on the run in Syria.
Tags: Iraq; terrorist; Syria; National Security; Middle East; FBI; Al-Jawary
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School Poison: Lead in Drinking Water
WBNS-TV exposed the unhealthy levels of lead in the drinking water at several public schools and revealed the breakdowns in the state government system that is supposed to monitor the water's quality.
Tags: Natural Resources; water main; East Clinton High School; East Clinton Middle School; EPA; Environment;
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Politics, scholarship and the Armenian Genocide
The first story in the series documented the resignation of Donald Quataert, a distinguished American scholar, who stepped down from the chair of the Georgetown University-based Institute of Turkish Studies. Quataert said he had been forced out by a defunding threat from the Government of Turkey. Several board members also resigned and said political infringement of academic freedom was the reason. The second story in the series looks at evidence of a deliberate attempt to maintain Turkish state control of the U.S. nonprofit. Present and former Turkish ambassadors controlled the endowment that provided almost all the funding for the scholarly institute at the time of Quataert's resignation. Also, founding members of the institute as well as endowment trustees had been party to Ankara's decades-long campaign to suppress international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
Tags: Armenian Genocide; Institute of Turkish Studies; Turkish scholars; improper financial control; Middle East Studies Association; public denial; politics versus academics
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America and the Islamic Bomb: The Deadly Compromise
The book "chronicles the role the United States and its allies played in allowing Pakistan to first develop and then peddle nuclear weapons technology."
Tags: Pakistan; terrorism; Middle East; nuclear; nuclear weapons; plutonium; War on Terror; Cold War; United Kingdom; Britain; smuggling
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End-Time Christians Promote War with President Bush's Administration
According to close observers of President George W. Bush, End-Time Christian leaders have influenced Bush so that he has become steeped in the ideas of Armageddon, the Apocalypse and war with satanic forces in the Middle East. President Bush is also said to be trying to construct an American theocracy to fulfill God’s end-of-days plan.
Tags: Christianity; end of the world; religious impact; doomsday; faith;
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Safety Second?
This investigation revealed that the US Marine Corps awarded a $300 million vehicle contract to a company that produced sub-standard vehicles which did not meet the Marines' own safety standards. This vehicle with no doors and no roof (called The Growler) was chosen over a superior vehicle designed by Detroit engineers.
Tags: military contract; federal government; Middle East conflict; army; transportation; combat