Military
Post-9/11 laws blurring the line of terrorism
“The Sept. 11 attacks prompted almost every nation to adopt or toughen anti-terror laws. Until now, no one followed up to see who was impacted. In an unprecedented 9-month investigation, journalists in more than 100 countries found that at least 35,000 people have been convicted on terror charges since 2001, from bombers to bloggers.AP National…
Read MoreKBR’s umbrella contract with the government raises questions
As U.S. troops moved into Afghanistan in the months following 9/11, there were few facilities in place that would offer them support. As Sharon Weinberger of The Center for Public Integrity reports, “the military needed someone to do everything from housing troops to rebuilding airfields. The solution was a contract called the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, or LOGCAP,…
Read MoreDeath penalty in Military polluted with racial disparities
Melissa Taylor, McClatchy, reports on the findings of a disturbing academic research study. “A group of law and statistics professors found that minorities in the military were twice as likely to be sentenced to death as their white counterparts, a statistic higher than is known to exist in most civilian court systems.” However, the authors of…
Read MoreU.S. Navy struggling to maintain ships
Michael Fabey, from Aviation Week, reports on the deteriorating health of some our Navy’s ships, mostly due to budget cut backs tied with our involvement overseas. “As conflicts were heating up in the latter years of the previous decade, the Navy shifted its funding focus from ship repair to buying items like helicopter components or…
Read More“U.S. Navy Radar Testing Center Goes Dark”
Michael Fabey tells the story of the “Taj Mahal,” a building that “features a full-scale aft-face replica of the DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer deckhouse, complete with operating radar arrays.” The U.S. Navy says the building itself costs $19 million. However, the cost of its “radar-suite” would “dwarf that number.” The building was originally built to house…
Read MoreThe foggy 13-year hunt for Osama bin Laden.
Caren Bohn, Mark Hoseball, Tabassum Zakaria, and Missy Ryan from Reuters report on the grueling, and sometimes questionable, plan to kill Osama bin Laden. The 13-year quest to find and eliminate bin Laden, from the November 1998 day he was indicted by a federal grand jury for his role in the East Africa embassy bombings,…
Read MoreGrounded pilots promoted to key California National Guard positions
A report by the Sacramento Bee shows revealed that “four pilots who are under criminal investigation for receiving possibly illegal payments of public funds have been appointed to key leadership posts in the California National Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing based in Fresno. Two former commanders, also targeted in the probe, previously were relieved of their…
Read MoreCombat-related injuries compound stuggles of soldiers returning from war
A report for CNN by Alex Quade explores the struggles of veterans suffering with combat-related health issues as they try to reintegrate into civilian life following service in Iraq and Afghanistan. “War veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury and their families say military commanders, policy-makers, health care providers, and communities need…
Read MoreContractor deaths outnumber military ones in Iraq, Afghanistan
A report by T. Christian Miller of ProPublica reveals that, for the first time, “more private contractors than soldiers were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Between January and June 2010, 250 contractors died. During that same period, Pentagon records show 235 soldiers died.
Read MoreInsurers profit on policies of fallen soldiers
An investigation by David Evans of Bloomberg found that Prudential Insurance has been profiting on life insurance policies of deceased veterans. The funds are held in “Prudential’s general corporate account, earning investment income for the insurer.” According to regulatory filings from 2008, survivors were being paid 1 percent interest on their Alliance Accounts, while Prudential…
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