Items filed under "American foreign policy"

Against international pressure, South Korea edges closer to live-fire drills as North Korea warns of looming 'catastrophe'

Mike — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 11:51:40 -0500

The U.S. State Department has defended Seoul's right to hold the drills, and roughly 20 U.S. military members will take part in the live-fire drill. But China has spoken out against the drills, with Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu urging "dialogue rather than confrontation."

Despite diplomatic tensions, U.S.-Israeli security ties strengthen

Mike — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:58:49 -0400

Under an agreement signed toward the end of the Bush administration, annual U.S. military assistance to Israel has been boosted from $2.5 billion in 2009 to $3 billion in 2011, meaning that almost a quarter of Israel's actual defense expenditures comes from the United States, according to Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Obama's Iron Dome money would be on top of that largesse, already the most military assistance to any country.

Blunt General Appointed to Lead Forces in Mideast - NYTimes.com

Mike — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 07:58:21 -0400

“You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap around women for five years because they didn’t wear a veil,” he said while speaking at a forum in San Diego. “You know guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway, so it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.”

Children Carry Guns for a U.S. Ally, Somalia - NYTimes.com

Mike — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 08:27:41 -0400

Somali government officials concede that they have not done the proper vetting. Officials also revealed that the United States government was helping pay their soldiers, an arrangement American officials confirmed, raising the possibility that the wages for some of these child combatants may have come from American taxpayers.

Vast deposits of mineral wealth are discovered in Afghanistan - The Boston Globe

Mike — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 08:27:03 -0400

WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.

U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Military Acts in Mideast Region - NYTimes.com

Mike — Tue, 25 May 2010 07:50:30 -0400

While the Bush administration had approved some clandestine military activities far from designated war zones, the new order is intended to make such efforts more systematic and long term, officials said. Its goals are to build networks that could “penetrate, disrupt, defeat or destroy” Al Qaeda and other militant groups, as well as to “prepare the environment” for future attacks by American or local military forces, the document said. The order, however, does not appear to authorize offensive strikes in any specific countries.

Cable Ties Kissinger to Chile Controversy - NYTimes.com

Mike — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 10:10:45 -0400

WASHINGTON (AP) -- As secretary of state, Henry Kissinger canceled a U.S. warning against carrying out international political assassinations that was to have gone to Chile and two neighboring nations just days before a former ambassador was killed by Chilean agents on Washington's Embassy Row in 1976, a newly released State Department cable shows.

Upheaval in Kyrgyzstan Could Imperil Key U.S. Base - NYTimes.com

Mike — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 08:35:02 -0400

MOSCOW — The president of Kyrgyzstan was forced to flee the capital, Bishkek, on Wednesday after bloody protests erupted across the country over his repressive rule, a backlash that could pose a threat to the American military supply line into nearby Afghanistan.

Pakistan army accused of extrajudicial killings, human rights abuses - washingtonpost.com

Mike — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 08:03:27 -0400

The extrajudicial execution of up to 300 alleged Taliban supporters and sympathizers in the area around Mingora, the Swat capital, has been documented by New York-based Human Rights Watch, which conducted interviews with more than 100 Swat families in February and March. A report on the alleged abuses, including torture, home demolitions and illegal detentions and disappearances, is scheduled for release this month.

Participant in 1980 assassination of Romero in El Salvador provides new details - washingtonpost.com

Mike — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 08:02:06 -0400

Worshipers at Romero's funeral were attacked with machine-gun fire and a bomb, which killed as many as 40 people and wounded 200.