Search Results from beSpacific
News release: "President Barack Obama sent to Congress a proposed defense budget of $708 billion for fiscal 2011. The budget request for the Department of Defense (DoD) includes $549 billion in discretionary budget authority to fund base defense programs and...
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), Iraq Reconstruction Funds: Forensic Audits Identifying Fraud, Waste, and Abuse – Interim Report #2, January 28, 2010 "Since our last report, SIGIR has reviewed an additional 51,000 transactions valued at $17.3 billion, bringing...
CBO's Analysis of Scenarios for Funding the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Letter to John M. Spratt Jr., January 21, 2010 "As you requested, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has analyzed both the funding needed to support an additional 30,000...
CRS Report - Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, Kenneth Katzman Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs, December 30, 2009 "Upon taking office, the Obama Administration faced a deteriorating security environment in Afghanistan, despite a steady increase in U.S. forces...
News release: "...the Transportation Security Administration issued new security directives to all United States and international air carriers with inbound flights to the U.S. effective January 4, 2010. The new directive includes long-term, sustainable security measures developed in consultation with...
A Review of the FBI's Involvement in and Observations of Detainee Interrogations in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq, October 2009 (Revised and Unclassified). "The OIG originally issued this report in May 2008. This revised version, dated October 2009, contains previously...
Long-Term Implications of the Department of Defense's Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Submission, November 18, 2009. Testimony before the Committee on Armed Services, U.S. House of Representatives. "CBO projects that carrying out the plans proposed in the President’s 2010 budget request,...
"The November 2, 2009 hearing of the Commission on Wartime Contracting probed the precision and accuracy of counting contractors by the Department of Defense, the strategic withdrawal in Iraq and the role of contractors, and the cooperation between the Defense...
Contingency Contracting: Further Improvements Needed in Agency Tracking of Contractor Personnel and Contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, GAO-10-187, November 02, 2009 Operation Iraqi Freedom: Preliminary Observations on DOD Planning for the Drawdown of U.S. Forces from Iraq, GAO-10-179, November 02,...
10-004 Iraq Reconstruction Funds: Forensic Audits Identifying Fraud, Waste, and Abuse – Interim Report #1, October 28, 2009: "Our 17 audits of major reconstruction contracts involving about $6.4 billion in Iraq reconstruction funds identified a number of common or crosscutting...
10-003: Iraq Commander's Emergency Response Program Generally Managed Well, but Project Documentation and Oversight Can Be Improved, October 27, 2009: "In April 2008, Multi–National Force–Iraq (MNF–I) and the Government of Iraq (GOI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) establishing the...
October 02, 2009 - Income and Poverty Among Older Americans in 2008 October 01, 2009 - Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance October 01, 2009 - Air Force C-17 Aircraft Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress September 30, 2009 -...
CBO: Long-Term Implications of the Department of Defense's Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Submission, October 14, 2009. Testimony before the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives CBO projects that carrying out the plans proposed in the President’s 2010 budget...
Withdrawal of U.S. Forces from Iraq: Possible Timelines and Estimated Costs, October 7, 2009 - Letter to the Honorable John F. Tierney "President Obama has announced that all U.S. combat operations for the war in Iraq—also called Operation Iraqi Freedom...
Contingency Contracting: DOD, State, and USAID Continue to Face Challenges in Tracking Contractor Personnel and Contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, GAO-10-1, October 01, 2009 Emergency Management: Preliminary Observations on FEMA's Community Preparedness Programs Related to the National Preparedness System, GAO-10-105T,...
Department of Defense Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan: Background and Analysis, Moshe Schwartz, Specialist in Defense Acquisition - August 13, 2009 "The Department of Defense (DOD) increasingly relies upon contractors to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has resulted...
News release: "Today, the National Security Archive posted a side-by-side comparison of two very different versions of a 2004 report on the CIA's "Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities" by Agency Inspector General John Helgerson. Yesterday, the Obama administration released new...
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) - Quality Initiatives Undertaken by the Veterans Health Administration, August 2009. "With the return of veterans who have served in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and with a much larger number of veterans from earlier...
WSJ: Justice O'Connor's continuing judicial work [as a substitute judge, Justice O'Connor has heard nearly 80 cases and written more than a dozen opinions] comes in addition to many other activities, from ceremonial functions -- such as serving as grand...
S. 1390, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 - July 14, 2009, Cost estimate for the bill as reported by the Senate Committee on Armed Services on July 2, 2009 "S. 1390 would authorize appropriations totaling $681 billion...
June 29, 2009 - Tunisia: Current Issues June 29, 2009 - Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program: An Overview June 26, 2009 - Iraq: U.S. Casualties June 26, 2009 - The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and All-Hazard Warnings June 26, 2009 -...
WSJ: "Seeing Eye dogs were first systematically trained in Germany during World War I to aid blinded veterans. Today, psychiatric-service dogs are being trained to help veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan battles...Puppies Behind Bars Inc., a New York-based nonprofit that...
National Security Archive: "FBI special agents carried out 20 formal interviews and at least 5 "casual conversations" with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein after his capture by U.S. troops in December 2003, according to secret FBI reports released as the...
News release: "...Matthew M. Aid today posted a collection of declassified documents obtained for his new book The Secret Sentry on the [National Security] Archive’s Web site...disclos[ing] that the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 was far from the first...
Economist.com chart: "At the end of 2008 10.5m refugees were in the direct care of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, down slightly from 11.4m a year earlier. The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq again caused the largest numbers of...
Strengthening the Transatlantic Alliance: An Overview of the Obama Administration's Policies in Europe, Philip H. Gordon, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Statement before the Subcommittee on Europe of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Washington, DC, June 16,...
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Joint Audit of Blackwater Contract and Task Orders for Worldwide Personal Protective Services in Iraq, Report Numbers AUD/IQO-09-16,SIGIR 09-021, June 2009. Unclassified. "The joint audit addressed the following four objectives pertaining to the Blackwater...
Energy Information Administration: Iraq Energy Data, Statistics and Analysis - Oil, Gas, Electricity, Coal, June 2009 "Iraq was the world’s 13th largest oil producer in 2008, and has the world’s third largest proven petroleum reserves after Saudi Arabia and Canada....
Alaska Native Villages: Limited Progress Has Been Made on Relocating Villages Threatened by Flooding and Erosion, GAO-09-551, June 03, 2009 Influenza Pandemic: Continued Focus on the Nation's Planning and Preparedness Efforts Remains Essential, GAO-09-760T, June 03, 2009 Public Transportation: New...
With Translation Technology On Their Side, Humans Can Finally Lick the Language Barrier: "...a universal translator...is being tested in Iraq by DARPA -- the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency -- the legendary research and development works in Arlington [Virginia]. The...
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Quarterly Report to the United States Congress, April 30, 2009 - (Public Law 108-106, as amended, and Public Law 95-452) "This quarter marked the sixth anniversary of the U.S. entry into Iraq. Since the...
09-014 - Security Forces Logistics Contract Experienced Certain Cost, Outcome, and Oversight Problems, April 26, 2009: "This report discusses one of the largest Department of Defense contracts funded by the Iraq Security Forces Fund [As of January 31, 2009, the...
Afghanistan: Key Issues for Congressional Oversight, GAO-09-473SP, April 21, 2009: "Security in Afghanistan has worsened significantly in the last 3 years, impeding both U.S. and international partners' efforts to stabilize and rebuild the country. The security situation, including the overall...
"President Obama today submitted to the Congress a Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 supplemental appropriations request totaling $83.4 billion to fund ongoing military, diplomatic, and intelligence operations. An overwhelming amount of this money -- nearly 95 percent -- is to move...
Contingency Contracting: DOD, State, and USAID Are Taking Actions to Track Contracts and Contractor Personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, GAO-09-538T, April 01, 2009 Defense Acquisitions: Measuring the Value of DOD's Weapon Programs Requires Starting with Realistic Baselines, GAO-09-543T, April 01,...
Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, March 2009 - Report to Congress In accordance with the Department of Defense Supplemental Appropriations Act 2008 (Section 9204, Public Law 110-252) "The United States seeks an Iraq that is sovereign, stable, and self-reliant;...
Report: Funds Appropriated for Afghanistan and Iraq Processed Through the Foreign Military Sales Trust Fund, Prepared by the Department of Defense Inspector General, March 24, 2009 (Project No. D2007-D000FD-0198.000)...
Private Health Insurance: 2008 Survey Results on Number and Market Share of Carriers in the Small Group Health Insurance Market, GAO-09-363R, February 27, 2009 Private Pensions: Conflicts of Interest Can Affect Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Plans, GAO-09-503T, March 24,...
Bank Secrecy Act: Federal Agencies Should Take Action to Further Improve Coordination and Information-Sharing Efforts, GAO-09-227, February 12, 2009 Emergency Management: Actions to Implement Select Provisions of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, GAO-09-433T, March 17, 2009 Global War on...
Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery Responsibly Ending the War in Iraq, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Friday, February 27, 2009: "Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission...
Iraq and Afghanistan: Availability of Forces, Equipment, and Infrastructure Should Be Considered in Developing U.S. Strategy and Plans, GAO-09-380T, February 12, 2009 Afghanistan Security: Corrective Actions Are Needed to Address Serious Accountability Concerns about Weapons Provided to Afghan National Security...
"This year will bring change in Iraq that will fundamentally affect every aspect of the reconstruction program. This change began on January 1 when the Security Agreement and the Strategic Framework Agreement became effective, redefining the bilateral relationship between Iraq...
The 2009 Future Years Defense Program: Implications and Alternatives, February 4, 2009, Testimony before the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives "In CBO’s projection, defense resources average about $549 billion annually (in constant 2009 dollars) from 2014 to...
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) - Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience, February 2, 2009 "Since the March 2003 invasion, the Congress appropriated about $50 billion in taxpayer dollars for Iraq's relief and reconstruction. This...
The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction issued the following new audits: 09-009 Full Impact of Department of Defense Program to Restart State-owned Enterprises Difficult to Estimate, January 30, 2009: "Task Force efforts have served to help restart state-owned factories...
"Protected Person" Status in Occupied Iraq Under the Fourth Geneva Convention (March 18, 2004) (added 1/08/09) Status of Taliban Forces Under Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention OF 1949 (February 7, 2002) (added 1/08/09) Authority of the President Under...
Editorial - Exit Stonewalling: "...E-mail messages that have gone suspiciously missing are estimated to number in the millions. These could illuminate some of the administration’s darker moments, including the lead-up to the Iraq war, when intelligence was distorted, the destruction...
American Forces Press Service: "The number of U.S. military fatalities in Iraq in 2008 fell two-thirds compared to the previous year, underscoring an improvement in security amid upcoming provincial elections. Last year's casualty figure -- 314 -- marks a sharp...
New York Times: "The National Archives has put into effect an emergency plan to handle electronic records from the Bush White House amid growing doubts about whether its new $144 million computer system can cope with the vast quantities of...
Cost of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Other Military Operations Through 2008 and Beyond, The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, Steven M. Kosiak, 2008. "Since 2001, the US government and the American taxpayer have provided about $904...
December 12, 2008 - U.S.-Iraq Withdrawal/Status of Forces Agreement: Issues for Congressional Oversight December 11, 2008 - The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Final Part B Regulations December 08, 2008 - Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979: Background, Provisions,...
An Investigation of Overtime Payments to FBI and Other Department of Justice Employees Deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, December 2008 "This investigation began in October 2007 when an FBI employee (who asked to remain anonymous) alleged to the OIG that...
United States Institute of Peace Peace Briefing - Iraq in the Obama Administration, December 2008, Daniel P. Serwer and Sam Parker "President-elect Obama has stated his commitment to withdraw combat brigades from Iraq within 16 months, leaving a residual force...
New York Times: "An unpublished 513-page federal history of the American-led reconstruction of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country, and then molded into a...
Center for Strategic and International Studies - Special Brief: Homeland Security in an Obama Administration, By David Heyman and Ethan Wais, November 28, 2008 "With all the pageantry of Presidential conventions, the intensity of the financial crisis and bailing out...
White House news release, November 27, 2008: "...in another sign of progress, Iraq's Council of Representatives approved two agreements with the United States, a Strategic Framework Agreement and a Security Agreement, often called a Status of Forces Agreement or SOFA....
News release: "Vienna, 28 November 08--The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at 47.38 dollars a barrel on Thursday, compared with $45.47 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB)...
Stuck in a Revolving Door, Iraqis and Other Asylum Seekers and Migrants at the Greece/Turkey - Entrance to the European Union, November 2008. "Iraqis are currently the largest nationality group of asylum seekers lodging new claims in the European Union...
"Following each presidential election, GAO serves as a resource to assist with the transition to a new Congress and administration. On this Web site, Serving the Congress and the Nation, using its institutional knowledge and broad-based, nonpartisan work on matters...
November 03, 2008 - Section 811 and Other HUD Housing Programs for Persons with Disabilities November 01, 2008 - Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies: FY2009 Appropriations October 31, 2008 - Emergency Economic Stabilization Act: Preliminary Analysis of Oversight...
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction 09-004 Iraq Reconstruction Project Terminations Represent a Range of Actions, October 27, 2008: "As of June 2008, SIGIR identified 1,262 DoD Iraq reconstruction projects that have been terminated, including 732 for the convenience of...
Official Google Blog: "Today we are pleased to announce the launch of a 5-year quotes index. This expanded coverage lets you explore what Governor Palin said before she was a VP nominee, or Senator Obama before he was a presidential...
Federal Energy Management: Addressing Challenges through Better Plans and Clarifying the Greenhouse Gas Emission Measure Will Help, Meet Long-term Goals for Buildings, GAO-08-977, September 30, 2008 Space Acquisitions: DOD's Goals for Resolving Space Based Infrared System Software Problems Are Ambitious,...
Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, September 2008. Report to Congress In accordance with the Department of Defense Appropriations Act 2008 (Section 9010, Public Law 109-289; Section 9204, Public Law 110-252) "In summary, political, security, economic, and diplomatic trends in...
Meeting America's Security Challenges Beyond Iraq - A Conference Report, by Sarah Harting "On December 4, 2007, the RAND Corporation and the Center for Naval Analyses Corporation cohosted a conference at which members of the U.S. defense community discussed approaches...
Electronic Waste: EPA Needs to Better Control Harmful U.S. Exports through Stronger Enforcement and More Comprehensive Regulation, GAO-08-1044, August 28, 2008 Electronic Waste: Harmful U.S. Exports Flow Virtually Unrestricted Because of Minimal EPA Enforcement and Narrow Regulation, GAO-08-1166T, September 17,...
News release: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement repatriated more than 1,000 cultural antiquities that had been seized for false declaration of country of origin to the Government of Iraq. The items included terra cotta cones, figurines, coins and remnants of...
After the War: Nation-Building From FDR to George W. Bush, By: James Dobbins, Michele A. Poole, Austin Long, Benjamin Runkle: "This book examines how the United States has gained considerable experience in nation-building operations through its participation in at least...
ACLU news release: "A federal judge [U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York] has ordered the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to turn over three memos that authorized the extremely harsh treatment of prisoners in CIA custody...
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 254: "The U.S. intelligence community buckled sooner in 2002 than previously reported to Bush administration pressure for data justifying an invasion of Iraq, according to a documents posting on the Web today by...
Congressional Budget Office: Contractors' Support of U.S. Operations in Iraq, August 2008. "From 2003 through 2007, U.S. agencies awarded $85 billion in contracts for work to be principally performed in the Iraq theater, accounting for almost 20 percent of funding...
Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery. Edited by Terri Tanielian and Lisa H. Jaycox (499 pages, PDF) "Since October 2001, approximately 1.64 million U.S. troops have been deployed for Operations Enduring...
D-2008-115 Status of Training Vehicles for U.S. Ground Forces Deploying in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, August 6, 2008 (Project No. D2007-D000LH-0108.001) "Our overall audit objective was to determine whether U.S. ground forces supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) were receiving...
Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq: Iraqi Revenues, Expenditures, and Surplus, GAO-08-1031, August 05, 2008 "Iraq has an estimated 115 billion barrels of crude oil reserves, the third largest in the world. Oil export revenues are critical to Iraq's reconstruction, accounting for...
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) - Information on a Special Department of Defense Program to Foster Economic Recovery in Iraq, July 29, 2008 "Relief and Reconstruction Fund; therefore, SIGIR focused heavily on audits of Iraq...
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) - Anticorruption Efforts in Iraq: U.S. and Iraq Take Actions but Much Remains to be Done, July 30, 2008 "Since 2004, SIGIR’s mandate was largely tied to the sizeable Iraq...
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction - July 30, 2008 Quarterly Report and Semiannual Report to Congress: "This 18th Quarterly Report to the Congress provides a new look at the relief and reconstruction effort in Iraq, presenting...
Brookings Iraq Index - Tracking Variables of Reconstruction & Security in Post-Saddam Iraq, July 31, 2008...
Combating Terrorism: Actions Needed to Enhance Implementation of Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership, GAO-08-860, July 31, 2008 Information Technology: Agencies Need to Establish Comprehensive Policies to Address Changes to Projects' Cost, Schedule, and Performance Goals, GAO-08-925, July 31, 2008 Rebuilding Iraq: DOD...
Follow up to Committee Investigates Accidental Electrocutions of Soldiers in Iraq, today the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing titled, Deficient Electrical Systems at U.S. Facilities in Iraq. The hearing examined electrical problems leading to the injuries...
Bombers, Bank Accounts, and Bleedout: al-Qa'ida's Road in and Out of Iraq, July 22, 2008 (126 pages. PDF): "The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC) launched the Harmony Project in order to release and analyze documents from the Department...
News release: "The national security system created by the U.S. government in 1947 that served the nation throughout the Cold War is outdated and needs a massive restructuring to better protect the American people from terrorism, rogue states and other...
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR): Comprehensive Plan Needed to Guide the Future of the Iraq Reconstruction Management System, July 25, 2008 "This report addresses the Iraq Reconstruction Management System. Public Law 108-106 created the $18.4...
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR): Government of Iraq Increasingly Funding Iraqi Security Forces Infrastructure Development, but Substantial U.S. Support Remains, July 26, 2008 "A congressional committee raised concerns that significant U.S.-appropriated money from the Iraq...
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR): Key Recurring Management Issues Identified in Audits of Iraq Reconstruction Efforts, July 27, 2008 "As of July 2008, the U.S. Congress had appropriated approximately $50 billion for all relief and...
Via The Memory Hole, "On a subpage of their Freedom of Info Act website, the Defense Department today has posted 127 pages of documents concerning embedded media. The file may be downloaded here: DOD FOIA Reading Room." Related article from...
DCAA Audits: Allegations That Certain Audits at Three Locations Did Not Meet Professional Standards Were Substantiated, GAO-08-857, July 22, 2008 Information Sharing Environment: Definition of the Results to Be Achieved in Improving Terrorism-Related Information Sharing Is Needed to Guide Implementation...
DOD Support to the Global War On Terror (GWOT) - D-2008-086 Challenges Impacting Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom Reported by Major Oversight Organizations Beginning FY 2003 through FY 2007, July 18, 2008 (Project No. D2007-D000XA-0249.000) "Over the course of...
"Chairman Waxman requests additional information about Defense Department and KBR failures to address defective electrical systems throughout Iraq that have caused hundreds of fires and resulted in multiple fatalities." Documents and Links Letter to Robert M. Gates Memorandum for Defense...
After Saddam - Prewar Planning and the Occupation of Iraq. Nora Bensahel, Olga Oliker, Keith Crane, Richard R. Brennan, Jr., Heather S. Gregg, Thomas Sullivan, Andrew Rathmell. "Soon after Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF) began in March 2003, RAND Arroyo Center...
The United States Army in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, May 2003—January 2005. ON POINT II: Transition to the New Campaign. Dr. Donald P. Wright, Colonel Timothy R. Reese with the Contemporary Operations Study Team, Combat Studies Institute Press, US Army Combined...
News release: "The Senlis Council [The Senlis Council is an international policy think tank committed to implementing change at all policy levels, by bridging the gap between people and policy in three key areas] has maintained an operational base in...
WSJ, sub. req'd: "In a remarkable shift, Afghanistan, where U.S. officials were once confident of victory, is now rivaling Iraq as the biggest cause of concern for American policymakers. According to a new Pentagon report, Taliban militants have regrouped after...
Measuring Stability & Security in Iraq — (06/16/2008): "The following reports to Congress are submitted pursuant to the section entitled “Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq” of House Conference Report 109-72 accompanying H.R. 1268, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense,...
Border Security: State Department Should Plan for Potentially Significant Staffing and Facilities Shortfalls Caused by Changes in the Visa Waiver Program, GAO-08-623, May 22, 2008 Coast Guard: Strategies for Mitigating the Loss of Patrol Boats Are Achieving Results in the...
"Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Waxman sent a letter today requesting that President Bush declassify provisions in the “Joint MNF-I/U.S. Embassy-Baghdad Campaign Plan” that refer to U.S. military bases in Iraq and the timeline for their existence, as well as...
Iraq Index Tracking Variables of Reconstruction & Security in Post-Saddam Iraq, June 16, 2008...
June 16, 2008 - Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA): What Is It, and How Might One Be Utilized In Iraq? June 16, 2008 - Boumediene v. Bush: Guantanamo Detainees' Right to Habeas Corpus June 11, 2008 - Telework Legislation Pending...
Quickly, Carefully, and Generously - Task Force for a Responsible Withdrawal from Iraq, June 2008. Preface by U.S. Representative James P. McGovern (MA-03). Commonwealth Institute, Cambridge, MA. "The United States and the international community bear a responsibility to contribute to...
06/17/2008 Hurricane Relief Effort Costs on Navy Construction Capabilities Contracts, May 23, 2008 06/17/2008: Review of Matters Related to the August 28, 2005 Shooting of Reuters Journalists, June 4, 2008 (Redacted): "We initiated this review to address a complaint by...
"The Department of Defense Inspector General released today the Comprehensive Audit Plan for Southwest Asia. The plan was facilitated by the DoD IG Joint Planning Group-Southwest Asia and includes the individual audit plans of the Inspectors General of the Department...
An Argument for Documenting Casualties Violence Against Iraqi Civilians 2006, Katharine Hall, Dale Stahl "Protecting the civilian population is one of the central tenets of U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine. Until very recently, however, the U.S. military has not had a formal...
News release: "The Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, and a bipartisan majority of the Committee (10-5), today unveiled the final two sections of its Phase II report on prewar intelligence. The first...
RAND Counterinsurgency Study, Volume 2, Counterinsurgency in Iraq (2003–2006), by Bruce R. Pirnie and Edward O' Connell. "The difficulties encountered by the United States in securing Iraq and Afghanistan despite years of effort and staggering costs raises the central question...
From the poughkeepsiejournal.com, users may search the U.S. forces deaths database for more than 4,500 men and women who have died in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Search fields include: Last name, Home state or province, Service branch,...
Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence -- The U.S. Military and Counterinsurgency Doctrine, 1960-1970 and 2003-2006, RAND Counterinsurgency Study -- Paper 6, by Austin Long. [Note: related reports/papers are available online here] "The publication of a new counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine manual in...
Department of Defence OIG: Internal Controls Over Payments Made in Iraq, Kuwait and Egypt, May 22, 2008 Between April 2001 and June 2006, the Army made 183,486 commercial and miscellaneous payments, totaling $10.7 billion, from 7 Army contingency disbursing stations...
Evidence on the Costs and Benefits of Health Information Technology, May 2008: "In this paper, prepared at the request of the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) examines the evidence on the costs and benefits...
DOJ OIG, Unclassified: Review of the FBI's Involvement In and Observations of Detainee Interrogations in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq "This Executive Summary summarizes the results of the review conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector...
Via Secrecy News Defense Contracting in Iraq: Issues and Options for Congress, updated May 6, 2008 The National Security Council: An Organizational Assessment, updated April 21, 2008 Homeland Security Department: FY2009 Request for Appropriations, May 6, 2008 Japan's Nuclear Future:...
Fact Sheet: Emergency Supplemental: Iraq, Afghanistan, Veterans and Workers, Prepared by the Majority Staff of the House Appropriations Committee, May 14, 2008: "Tomorrow the House of Representatives will consider the emergency supplemental bill to fund the wars in Iraq and...
News release: "The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of technical assistance for construction of facilities and infrastructure as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are...
"As Congress considers President Bush's request for another $178 billion in total war funding for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2008 and the first part of Fiscal Year 2009, the National Priorities Project (NPP) released today a state-level table and...
Fact Sheet: Emergency Supplemental: Iraq, Afghanistan, Veterans, and Workers, House Appropriations Committee - Majority, May 7, 2008. "This week the House of Representatives will consider the emergency supplemental bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and pressing domestic...
FY 2009 Supplemental Protecting the Force, Equipping American Troops, Strengthening National Security: "[May 2, 2008] President Bush transmitted to Congress the details for the $70 billion allowance included in the FY 2009 Budget. This provides the necessary resources for ongoing...
Analysis of the National Counterterrorism Center Annual Report on Terrorism, David Heyman, May 1, 2008. Center for Strategic & International Studies "Despite local and international efforts, the number of attacks worldwide have remained constant and still up sharply since 2005....
Rethinking Counterinsurgency: RAND Counterinsurgency Study -- Volume 5. By John Mackinlay, Alison Al-Baddawy "During the period of decolonization in Asia and Africa, the United Kingdom faced more insurgent activity than any other Western power. British government officials and military forces...
Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General: Follow-Up Healthcare Inspection VA's Role in Ensuring Services for Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans after Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation [Report No. 08-01023-119], May 1, 2008 "In a July 2006 report, the...
Committee Report: Deploying Federal Civilians to the Battlefield: Incentives, Benefits and Medical Care, April 2008. Report Prepared by the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. "Our government has asked many federal civilian volunteers to serve in Iraq or...
Via Secrecy News, Africa Command: U.S. Strategic Interests and the Role of the U.S. Military in Africa, updated March 10, 2008 High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) and High Power Microwave (HPM) Devices: Threat Assessments, updated March 26, 2008 Second FY2008...
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) Transferring Reconstruction Projects to the Government of Iraq: Some Progress Made but Further Improvements Needed to Avoid Waste, April 28, 2008: "U.S. agencies involved in reconstruction activities have taken steps...
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR): Progress on Recommended Improvements to Contract Administration for the Iraqi Police Training Program, April 22, 2008....
Post-Deployment Stress: What You Should Know, What You Can Do - April 17, 2008 - "Covers information about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and other emotional and behavioral problems, e.g., depression and substance abuse, that veterans may...
House of Representatives, Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations: Agency Stovepipes vs Strategic Agility: Lessons We Need to Learn from Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq and Afghanistan, April 2008, 84 pages, PDF. "The House Armed Services Subcommittee...
News release: "Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan — 300,000 in all — report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slightly more than half have sought treatment,...
Avatars, Virtual Reality Technology, and the U.S. Military: Emerging Policy Issues, April 9, 2008: "This report describes virtual reality technology, which uses three-dimensional user-generated content, and its use by the U.S. military and intelligence community for training and other purposes....
Fact Sheet: The Way Forward in Iraq - "Today, President Bush announced that – after detailed discussions with the Secretaries of State and Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff – he is accepting General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker's...
DoD Office of the Deputy Inspector General for Auditing - Training Requirements for U.S. Ground Forces Deploying in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, April 9, 2008. "CENTCOM requires that all personnel deploying in support of OIF be trained in 14...
Report released by Senators Edward M. Kennedy and Joseph Biden: "An estimated two million Iraqi refugees have been displaced from their homes and are living in Syria and Jordan, with another two million displaced within Iraq. The report makes several...
General David H. Petraeus, USA Commanding General Multi-National Force-Iraq Prepared Statement Charts to accompany the testimony of GEN David H. Petraeus...
110th CONGRESS, 2d Session, S. RES. 501: Honoring the sacrifice of the members of the United States Armed Forces who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan....
Iran, Terrorism, Transnational Security Threats, Nuclear Weapons, Weapons of Mass Destruction, March 2008. Daniel L. Byman, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Saban Center for Middle East Policy. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. "Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran has been...
News release: "On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, a new report from Oil Change International, entitled A Climate of War - The war in Iraq and global warming, quantifies both the greenhouse gas emissions of the Iraq War...
President Bush Discusses Global War on Terror, The Pentagon, March 19, 2008. Fact Sheet: Five Years Later: New Strategy Improving Security In Iraq, March 19, 2008...
Iraq - "There have been 4,297 coalition deaths -- 3,990 Americans, two Australians, 175 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, one Czech, seven Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 33 Italians, one Kazakh, one Korean, three Latvian, 22 Poles, three...
The Future of Iraq: "Five years after the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, the debate on how the United States should proceed in the divided nation is as heated as ever. Although violence has declined, the U.S. military remains...
Pew Research Center, Public Attitudes Toward the War in Iraq: 2003-2008 - March 19, 2008: "Five years after the start of the conflict in Iraq, many public evaluations of the situation in Iraq have turned more positive. But there has...
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) press release: "Five years after the outbreak of the war in Iraq, the humanitarian situation in most of the country remains among the most critical in the world. Because of the conflict, millions...
Carnage and despair: Iraq five years on. Index Number: MDE 14/001/2008. Date Published: 17 March 2008. "Five years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the country is still in disarray. The human rights situation is disastrous, a climate of impunity...
War's Toll: Five Years in Iraq, Warren P. Strobel, McClatchy Newspapers....
News release: "The Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing March 13, 2008 to examine the endemic waste, fraud and abuse that has resulted in the squandering of billions of American tax dollars in Iraq. With the cost of the war...
"ABC News has requested and obtained a copy of the Pentagon study which shows Saddam Hussein had no links to Al Qaeda...Based on the analysis of some 600,000 official Iraqi documents seized by US forces after the invasion and thousands...
Political Knowledge Update: "Public awareness of the number of American military fatalities in Iraq has declined sharply since last August. Today, just 28% of adults are able to say that approximately 4,000 Americans have died in the Iraq war. As...
Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, March 2008 Report to Congress, In accordance with the Department of Defense Appropriations Act 2008 (Section 9010, Public Law 109-289)...submitted pursuant to the section entitled “Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq” of House Conference...
Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq: Actions Needed to Address Inadequate Accountability over U.S. Efforts and Investments, GAO-08-568T, March 11, 2008 Presidential Signing Statements: Agency Implementation of Selected Provisions of Law, GAO-08-553T, March 11, 2008 Mineral Revenues: Data Management Problems and Reliance...
Mental Health Advisory Team (MHAT) V Operation Iraqi Freedom 06-08: Iraq Operation Enduring Freedom 8: Afghanistan 14 February 2008. Office of the Surgeon Multi-National Force-Iraq and Office of the Command Surgeon and Office of The Surgeon General United States Army...
The State of Iraq: An Update - Iraq, Middle East, Islamic World, U.S. Military, U.S. Department of Defense. Jason H. Campbell, Senior Research Assistant, Foreign Policy, Michael E. O'Hanlon, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy. "To track progress, we have established “Brookings...
Report No. D-2008-060 Potable and Nonpotable Water in Iraq, March 7, 2008 "From March 2004 to February 2006, the quality of water provided by contractors, through treatment or distribution at three of the sites we visited, was not maintained in...
News release, March 6, 2008: "U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill...expressed her concern with a loophole included in a Bush Administration proposal that would exempt overseas federal contractors from being required to report criminal activity, including contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. In...
News release, March 7, 2008: "Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and senior Committee Member John Warner, R-Va., today asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review Iraqi oil revenues and determine how much money the Iraqi government...
"The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at 98.46 dollars a barrel on Thursday, compared with $95.95 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations...The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following:...
Byting Back - Regaining Information Superiority Against 21st-Century Insurgents, RAND Counterinsurgency Study - Volume 1, by Martin C. Libicki, David C. Gompert, David R. Frelinger, Raymond Smith. "U.S. counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan have failed to exploit information power,...
January 30, 2008 Quarterly Report and Semiannual Report to Congress: "Success in the continuing U.S. relief and reconstruction efforts in Iraq in 2008 will depend substantially on the Government of Iraq's capacity to employ its own reconstruction resources in support...
"New documents released by House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Waxman identify “critical” and “major” deficiencies in the construction of the new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, raising questions about the decision of the State Department to certify in December that...
"CNAS and Foreign Policy magazine set out to address some of the most challenging questions facing the U.S. military in the 21st century: What is the state of America's military? How healthy are the armed forces? How prepared are they...
Countering Insurgency in the Muslim World - Rethinking U.S. Priorities and Capabilities, by: David C. Gompert, John Gordon, IV, Adam Grissom, David R. Frelinger, Seth G. Jones, Martin C. Libicki, Edward O'Connell, Brooke K. Stearns, Robert E. Hunter. "This research...
"As Defense Secretary Robert Gates indicates that the withdrawal of troops from Iraq will be delayed, the Democratic Caucus has released a new report on America’s military readiness crisis and our vulnerabilities at home."...
Congressional Budget Analysis of the Growth in Funding for Operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Elsewhere in the War on Terrorism, February 11, 2008. "The United States began combat operations in Afghanistan in fiscal year 2002 and in Iraq in fiscal...
Commission on the National Guard and Reserves: Final Report to Congress and the Secretary of Defense, January 31, 2008 (448 pages, PDF) Executive Summary, Final Report to Congress and the Secretary of Defense, January 31, 2008 (95 pages, PDF) "The...
"The Center for the Study of the Presidency is a non-profit and non-partisan organization that actively counsels the White House and the Executive branch on policy areas critical to strengthening Presidential leadership.Press release: Three independent reports have concluded this month...
Recent audits from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) Report on Review of Outcome, Cost, and Oversight of Iraq Reconstruction Contract W914NS-04-D-0006, January 28, 2008 Efforts to Implement a Financial-Management Information System in Iraq, January...
The Herald (United Kingdom): "The US has suffered more than 72,000 battlefield casualties since the start of the war on terror in 2001, a Freedom of Information request has revealed. The query by the campaigning Veterans for Common Sense organisation...
Iraq: The War Card, Center for Public Integrity: "Over the past two and a half years, researchers at the Fund for Independence in Journalism have sought to document every public statement made by eight top Bush administration officials from September...
United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Iraq Landmine Impact Survey - Final Report 2007 (136 pages, PDF) "The contaminated sites, as estimated by local key informants, comprise 1,730 square kilometers of land. They affect the livelihoods and safety of more...
U.S. Army Medical Command: "The Army has aggressively sought to prevent, diagnose and treat traumatic brain injuries (TBI), but much remains to be done to understand and respond to these injuries commonly associated with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan....
Press release: "The Department of Justice’s systematic failure to hold private security contractors operating in Iraq and Afghanistan criminally responsible for acts of excessive violence and abuse has created a dangerous “culture of impunity,” a new report finds. Released by...
Chemical Demilitarization: Additional Management Actions Needed to Meet Key Performance Goals of DOD's Chemical Demilitarization Program, GAO-08-134, December 6, 2007 Iraq Reconstruction: Better Data Needed to Assess Iraq's Budget Execution, GAO-08-153, January 15, 2008...
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) Audit: Outcome, Cost, and Oversight of Reconstruction of Taji Military Base and Baghdad Recruiting Center, Report Number 08-004, January 15, 2008. "This audit is the second in a series of focused contract reviews...
Press release: "A large national household survey conducted by the Iraqi government and WHO estimates that 151 000 Iraqis died from violence between March 2003 and June 2006. The findings, published today on the web site of the New England...
The Brookings Institution: Iraq Index Tracking Variables of Reconstruction & Security in Post-Saddam Iraq, December 21, 2007, Michael E. O’Hanlon and Jason H. Campbell (61 pages, PDF)...
Press Freedom Round-up 2007, Reporters Without Borders: "At least 86 journalists were killed around the world in 2007. The figure has risen steadily since 2002 - from 25 to 86 (+ 244%) - and is the highest since 1994, when...
Fact Sheet: National Defense Authorization Act Section 1083: A Danger to Iraq's Progress: "President Bush intends to veto the National Defense Authorization Act for FY08 (NDAA) because particular provisions included in the bill risk imposing financially devastating hardship on Iraq...
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) Between the Department of Defense and the Department of State on USG Private Security Contractors - (12/5/2007): "The purpose of this MOA is to clearly define the authority and responsibility for the accountability and operations of...
Project for Excellence in Journalism: "Through the first 10 months of the year, the portrait of Iraq that Americans have received from the news media has in considerable measure been a grim one. Roughly half of the reporting has consisted...
TPMmuckraker, State Dept Document from 2005 Shows Fraud in Blackwater's Iraq Contract: "A report prepared for the State Department's inspector general in January 2005, and obtained by TPMmuckraker, shows Blackwater's accounting system for its no-bid, multimillion dollar Iraq contract was...
DOD Report to Congress: Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, Submitted as Required by the FY 2007 Defense Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-289), December 2007 (61 pages, PDF)...
Air Traffic Control: FAA Reports Progress in System Acquisitions, but Changes in Performance Measurement Could Improve Usefulness of Information, GAO-08-42, December 18, 2007 Plum Island Animal Disease Center: DHS Has Made Significant Progress Implementing Security Recommendations, but Several Recommendations Remain...
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom Fatalities As of December 14, 2007, 10 a.m. EST....
Long-Term Implications of Current Defense Plans: Summary Update for Fiscal Year 2008, December 2007: "The 2008 FYDP [Future Year's Defense Program ]reflects changes to the department’s programs and priorities between February 2006 and February 2007. The 2008 FYDP and CBO’s...
D-2008-026 Management of the Iraq Security Forces Fund in Southwest Asia - Phase III, November 30, 2007 (Project No. D2007-D000LQ-0141.000), released December 6, 2007....
Operation Iraqi Freedom: DOD Assessment of Iraqi Security Forces' Units as Independent Not Clear Because ISF Support Capabilities Are Not Fully Developed, GAO-08-143R, November 30, 2007 Transportation Security Administration's Processes for Designating and Releasing Sensitive Security Information, GAO-08-232R, November 30,...
Project for Excellence in Journalism: "After four years of war in Iraq, the journalists reporting from that country give their coverage a mixed but generally positive assessment, but they believe they have done a better job of covering the American...
U.S. Army News release: "The Army announced Nov. 28 that it has taken initial steps to plan for reduced operations at all Army bases while the congressional review continues on funding for operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and requirements associated with...
Via Secrecy News: Weak and Failing States: Evolving Security Threats and U.S. Policy, November 15, 2007 Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues, updated November 14, 2007 The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since...
White House, November 26, 2007: Fact Sheet: U.S.-Iraq Declaration of Principles for Friendship and Cooperation - "The U.S. and Iraqi "Declaration of Principles" is a shared statement of intent that establishes common principles to frame our future relationship. This moves...
"At least 20,000 U.S. troops who were not classified as wounded during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have been found with signs of brain injuries, according to military and veterans records compiled by USA TODAY. The data, provided by the...
New York Times: Saudi Arabia and Libya, both considered allies by the United States in its fight against terrorism, were the source of about 60 percent of the foreign fighters who came to Iraq in the past year to serve...
The Victims of Terrorism An Assessment of Their Influence and Growing Role in Policy, Legislation, and the Private Sector, by Bruce Hoffman, Anna-Britt Kasupski (66 pages, PDF): "Little attention and analysis have focused on terrorism victims, including survivors. This report...
Center for Public Integrity: "It's been four years since the Center released its acclaimed Windfalls of War investigation, which first named Halliburton as the largest single contractor in Iraq and revealed the most comprehensive list of the top Iraq and...
Operations Enduring Freedom/Iraqi Freedom Review: Information For Veterans Who Served In Iraq And Afghanistan And Their Families (October 2007). Articles in this issue include: VA Researchers Develop New Prosthetic Ankle; VA Brings Mental Health Programs To Primary Care Settings; VA's...
November 13, 2007: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) will join Joint Economic Committee (JEC) Chairman Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), and JEC Vice Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) today released a new report exposing...
Iran's Ballistic Missile Programs: An Overview, November 8, 2007 U.S. Arms Sales to Pakistan, November 8, 2007 Pakistan's Political Crisis and State of Emergency, November 6, 2007 Pakistan-U.S. Relations, October 18, 2007 Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, October 31, 2007...
"Fact Sheet No. 9, updated Fall 2007 – Rural Americans Continue to Account for Disproportionately High Share of U.S. Casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan – is the Carsey Institute’s second annual Veteran’s Day release of this data, drawn from U.S....
"This spectacular 2,000 page US military leak consists of the names, group structure and equipment registers of all units in Iraq with US army equipment. It exposes secretive document exploitation centers, detainee operations, elements of the State Department, Air Force,...
Via FAS: Managing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Policy Implications of Expanding Global Access to Nuclear Power, November 1, 2007 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program: Background, Status, and Issues," updated October 25, 2007 Navy DDG-1000 Destroyer Program: Background, Oversight Issues,...
Byting Back -- Regaining Information Superiority Against 21st-Century Insurgents, RAND Counterinsurgency Study -- Volume 1: "U.S. counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan have failed to exploit information power, which could be a U.S. advantage but instead is being used advantageously...
"CBS News’ 60 Minutes exposure last night of the Iraqi agent known as CURVEBALL has put a major aspect of the Bush administration’s case for war against Iraq back under the spotlight. Rafid Ahmed Alwan’s charges that Iraq possessed stockpiles...
Via FAS, National Strategy for Combating Terrorism: Background and Issues for Congress, November 1, 2007 (19 pages, PDF): "Inherent in the National Strategy are a number of issues for Congress. These include (1) democratization as a counterterrorism strategy; (2) the...
October 30, 2007 Quarterly Report to Congress: "Two notable developments provide a backdrop for SIGIR’s work this quarter. First, total relief and reconstruction investment for Iraq from all sources–the United States, Iraq, and international donors–passed the $100 billion mark. And...
Intellectual Property: U.S. Trade Policy Guidance on WTO Declaration on Access to Medicines May Need Clarification, GAO-07-1198, September 28, 2007 Maritime Security: The SAFE Port Act: Status and Implementation One Year Later, GAO-08-126T, October 30, 2007 Minority Banks: Regulators' Assessments...
Press release: "Eritrea has replaced North Korea in last place in an index measuring the level of press freedom in 169 countries throughout the world that is published today by Reporters Without Borders for the sixth year running...Outside Europe -...
More War Funding Requested (Updated): "On October 22, the administration submitted a request for a further $45.9 billion in war-related spending for fiscal year 2008. This request is on top of $147 billion already requested for the Department of Defense...
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction: Agency Management of the Closeout Process for Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund Contracts, October 24, 2007 "In the course of implementing the $20.9 billion Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF) program,...
"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified at an Oversight Committee hearing focusing on the State Department’s performance on several significant issues relating to the Iraq war, including the impact of the activities of Blackwater USA and corruption within the Iraqi...
House Budget Committee hearing: The Growing Budgetary Costs of the Iraq War, Wednesday, October 24, 2007. Witness statements as follows: Dr. Peter Orszag, Director, Congressional Budget Office: Testimony on Estimated Costs of U.S. Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and of...
Interim Report [Number 08-001] on Efforts and Further Actions Needed to Implement a Financial Management System in Iraq, October 24, 2007 "This report discusses a contract between the U.S. Agency for International Development and Bearing Point, Inc. for a broad...
Mexico's Drug Cartels, October 16, 2007 Intelligence Issues for Congress, October 16, 2007 Iran's Activities and Influence in Iraq, October 12, 2007 Burma Sanctions: Background and Options, October 10, 2007 Burma-U.S. Relations, October 4, 2007...
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) Audit: Controls Over Unliquidated Obligations in the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, October 23, 2007 (33 pages, PDF) "This report was to determine the amount of IRRF unliquidated obligations retained by the Department...
House Veterans Affairs’ Committee Hearing Examines the Long-Term Costs of the Current Conflicts, October 17, 2007: "Since 2001, 1.6 million servicemembers have been deployed. According to the Congressional Budget Office, nearly half of those deployed have separated from the active...
October 19, 2007: Committee on Oversight and Government Reform "Chairman Waxman wrote to Erik Prince, Secretary Rice, and Secretary Gates, requesting further information on Blackwater’s no-bid contracts, additional incidents involving their personnel in Iraq, and payments made to the families...
Effectiveness of the Provincial Reconstruction Team Program in Iraq (SIGIR 07-016T), October 18, 2007, House Armed Services Committee - Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations "Description: SIGIR testifies on the release of its third audit of the Provincial Reconstruction Team Program,...
Defense Business Transformation: A Full-time Chief Management Officer with a Term Appointment Is Needed at DOD to Maintain Continuity of Effort and Achieve Sustainable Success, GAO-08-132T, October 16, 2007 Medical Devices: FDA's Approval of Four Temporomandibular Joint Implants, GAO-07-996, September...
"H.Res. 734 expresses the sense of the House that the State Department has abused its classification authority by withholding from Congress and the American people information about the extent of corruption in the Maliki government. The resolution further condemns the...
U.S. Policy Options for Iraq: A Reassessment, by Olga Oliker, Keith Crane, Audra K. Grant, Terrence K. Kelly, Andrew Rathmell, David Brannan (104 pages, PDF): "This book evaluates the costs and benefits of five alternative strategies the United States could...
Ryan White Care Act: Impact of Legislative Funding Proposal on Urban Areas, GAO-08-137R, October 5, 2007 Prescription Drugs: Trends in Usual and Customary Prices for Drugs Frequently Used by Medicare and Non-Medicare Health Insurance Enrollees, GAO-07-1201R, September 7, 2007 Stabilizing...
Few Economists Predicted True Cost of Iraq War, by Marilyn Geewax, Cox News Service, Sunday, October 07, 2007 "Five years ago this month, a Yale economist said something few in Washington wanted to hear: an Iraq war could cost nearly...
Follow up to previous postings on private military contractors in Iraq, this State Department press release, October 5, 2007: "Secretary Rice has received an initial assessment of Blackwater operations in support of Embassy Baghdad from the first two team members....
"The Committee held a hearing [October 5, 2007] to evaluate the status of corruption in the Iraqi government and whether U.S. government efforts to address this continuing problem have been adequate." From Chairman Waxman's Opening Statement: "Today’s hearing is one...
Combating Terrorism: Law Enforcement Agencies Lack Directives to Assist Foreign Nations, GAO-08-144T, October 4, 2007 Energy Efficiency: Opportunities Exist for Federal Agencies to Better Inform Household Consumers, GAO-07-1162, September 26, 2007 Environmental Right-To-Know: EPA's Recent Rule Could Reduce Availability of...
Press release: "Today, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA - H.R. 2740) Expansion and Enforcement Act of 2007, despite the Bush Administration's opposition, with a vote of 389-30. The bill, which passed through...
On October 2, 2007, the House Oversight Committee ...[held] a hearing to examine the use of private security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Previously undisclosed information reveals (1) Blackwater has engaged in 195 “escalation of force” incidents since 2005, an...
DOD Should Provide Congress and the American Public with Monthly Data on Enemy-Initiated Attacks in Iraq in a Timely Manner, GAO-07-1048R, September 28, 2007 Influenza Pandemic: Federal Executive Boards' Ability to Contribute to Pandemic Preparedness, GAO-07-1259T, September 28, 2007 The...
Washingtonpost.com: "Beginning today and continuing through Wednesday, staff writer Rick Atkinson describes the effort by the U.S. military to combat the improvised explosive devices used by insurgents in Afghanistan and iraq from 2002 until now. Part one describes the effort...
Press release: "On February 7, 2007, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing to initiate an investigation into the performance and accountability of private military contractors in Iraq. The hearing included the examination of one prominent case...
American Forces Press Service: "President Bush will ask Congress for another $42 billion to fund operations in the war on terror in fiscal 2008, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told the Senate Appropriations Committee today...The request brings the total supplement...
"The purpose of this website, and an accompanying column in the Post, is to "truth squad" the national political debate in the period leading up to the 2008 presidential election. Our goal is to shed as much light as possible...
Testimony on Turbulence in Mortgage Markets: Implications for the Economy and Policy Options, September 19, 2007 (33 pages, PDF) Testimony on Performance Budgeting: Applications to Health Insurance Programs and Tax Policy, September 20, 2007 The Possible Costs to the United...
Iraq Weekly Status Report: This comprehensive status report on Iraq provides weekly updates in the eight key areas identified as pillars of U.S. Government policy. See also Reports on Near Eastern Affairs, which includes links to the following topical reports:...
Mr. Thomas F. Gimble Principal Deputy Inspector General Department of Defense before the House Armed Services Committee on Accountability During Contingency Operations: Preventing and Fighting Corruption in Contracting and Establishing and Maintaining Appropriate Controls on Materiel, September 20, 2007. See...
Via FAS, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Iraq and Afghanistan: Effects and Countermeasures, updated August 28, 2007....
Benchmark Assessment Report (28 pages, PDF) "This report is submitted consistent with Section 1314 of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 (Public Law 110-28) (the “Act”). It includes an assessment of how...
Congressional Budget Office - Replacing and Repairing Equipment Used In Iraq and Afghanistan: The Army's Reset Program, September 2007 (58 pages, PDF): "To date, the Army has received $38 billion to replace, repair, and recondition equipment that has been lost,...
"U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker are briefing Congress this week on their assessment of the security situation in Iraq." Report (9 pages, PDF) | Slides...
Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, updated September 6, 2007 (62 pages, PDF): "Increasingly in 2007, U.S. commanders have seemed to equate AQ-I with the insurgency, even though most of the daily attacks are carried out by Iraqi Sunni insurgents."...
Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General: Issues Pertaining To The Proposed NAFTA Cross-Border Trucking Demonstration Project, September 06, 2007, Audit, Project ID: MH-2007-065 (48 pages, PDF) Summary: "On September 6, 2007, we issued our report on "Issues Pertaining to...
Reports Health Care 20 Years From Now: Taking Steps Today to Meet Tomorrow's Challenges. (Highlights of a forum convened by the comptroller general of the United States.) GAO-07-1155SP, September 2007, 2007 Maritime Transportation: Major Oil Spills Occur Infrequently, but Risks...
Defense Business Transformation: Achieving Success Requires a Chief Management Officer to Provide Focus and Sustained Leadership, GAO-07-1072, September 5, 2007, Full Report (PDF, 36 pages) National Flood Insurance Program: FEMA's Management and Oversight of Payments for Insurance Company Services Should...
"The Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq has released its report assessing the readiness of the Iraqi military and police forces. Chaired by General James L. Jones, USMC (Ret.), the congressionally mandated commission — comprised of 20 former...
Military Personnel: DOD's Predatory Lending Report Addressed Mandated Issues, but Support Is Limited for Some Findings and Recommendations, GAO-07-1148R, August 31, 2007,(PDF, 39 pages) Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq: Iraqi Government Has Not Met Most Legislative, Security, and Economic Benchmarks,...
"In recognition of National Preparedness Month 2007 (September), as well as the on-going military conflict in Iraq, the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, offers concerned citizens, service providers,...
National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) - An Update to "Prospects for Iraq's Stability" August 23, 2007: "There have been measurable but uneven improvements in Iraq's security situation since our last National Intelligence Estimate in January 2007."...
Iraq: Government Formation and Benchmarks, Updated August 10,2007 Iran's Influence in Iraq, Updated August 9, 2007 Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses, Updated August 6, 2007 Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America: An Overview and Selected Issues, August 2,...
Stabilizing Iraq: DOD Cannot Ensure That U.S.-Funded Equipment Has Reached Iraqi Security Forces, GAO-07-711, July 31, 2007. "Since 2003, the United States has provided about $19.2 billion to develop Iraqi security forces. The Department of Defense (DOD) recently requested an...
EPIC: "The biometrics program manager in Iraq this week expressed concern that the database containing biometrics and secret files on thousand of Iraqis could "become a hit list if it gets in the wrong hands." According to Lt. Col. Velliquette,...
Via Secrecy News, CRS Report - American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics, June 29, 2007: "This report is written in response to numerous requests for war casualty statistics and lists of war dead. It provides tables, compiled...
The Guardian: "Thousands of rare books and manuscripts in Iraq's national library and archive, one of the country's most important cultural institutions, are in peril after the occupation of the building by Iraqi security forces, the library's director said yesterday."...
NASA: Progress Made on Strategic Human Capital Management, but Future Program Challenges Remain, GAO-07-1004, August 8, 2007 Response to a post hearing question related to GAO's December 6, 2006 testimony on continued findings of fraud, waste, and abuse associated with...
Energy: Selected Facts and Numbers, Updated July 24, 2007 Trade Promotion Authority and Fast-Track Negotiating Authority for Trade Agreements: Major Votes, Updated July 17, 2007 Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses, Updated July 17, 2007 The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan,...
CBO Testimony Statement of Robert A. Sunshine, Assistant Director for Budget Analysis - Estimated Costs of U.S. Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and of Other Activities Related to the War on Terrorism before the Committee on Budget, U.S. House of...
Airport Finance: Observations on Planned Airport Development Costs and Funding Levels and the Administration's Proposed Changes in the Airport Improvement Program, GAO-07-885, June 29, 2007 Border Security: Security of New Passports and Visas Enhanced, but More Needs to Be Done...
July 30, 2007 Quarterly and Semiannual Report to Congress Highlights from the July 30, 2007 Report Iraq Reconstruction Timeline, July 30, 2007 Report Figures Report Pictures Report Tables...
Fact Sheet on Sources and Uses of U.S. Funding Provided in Fiscal Year 2006 for Iraq Relief and Reconstruction, July 27, 2007 (52 pages, PDF). See also the following recent SIGIR reports: Fact Sheet on the Roles and Responsibilities of...
Press release: "On Thursday, the Committee held a hearing to examine the performance of the State Department and its contractors in the construction of the new $600 million U.S. embassy in Baghdad. The Committee asked questions regarding the embassy compound...
Press release: A commission tasked to fix problems with wounded servicemembers’ care today presented a 29-page proposal to President Bush that suggests overhauling the disability-rating system and urges more attention be paid to returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffering...
Press release: "The International Compact with Iraq (ICI) is an initiative of the Government of Iraq, in partnership with the United Nations, and supported by the World Bank. This initiative seeks a new partnership with the International Community. It establishes...
President George W. Bush - Message to the Congress of the United States Regarding International Emergency Economic Powers Act, July 17, 2007: "Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)(IEEPA), I hereby report...
2010 Census: Preparations for the 2010 Census Underway, but Continued Oversight and Risk Management Are Critical, GAO-07-1106T, July 17, 2007 Federal Contracting: Use of Contractor Performance Information GAO-07-1111T, July 18, 2007 Information Technology: VA and DOD Are Making Progress in...
Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act (H.R 2956 EH): "Passed by the House, this bill would require the Secretary of Defense to commence the reduction of the number of United States Armed Forces in Iraq to a limited presence by April...
Bill Moyers Journal, July 13, 2007: "Bill Moyers gets perspective on the role of impeachment in American political life from Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein, who wrote the first article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, and THE NATION's John Nichols,...
Initial Benchmark Assessment Report, July 12, 2007 (25 pages, PDF): "This report to Congress is submitted consistent with Section 1314 of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 (Public Law 110-28) (the “Act”)....
Logistics Civil Augmentation Program Task Order 130: Requirements Validation, Government Oversight, and Contractor Performance, June 22, 2007 (71 pages, PDF) "The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) performed a review, at the request of the Management Counselor, U.S. Embassy-Iraq,...
Potential F-22 Raptor Export to Japan, Updated July 2, 2007 Iraq: Government Formation and Benchmarks, Updated June 27, 2007 Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses, Updated June 27, 2007 Iraq: Oil and Gas Legislation, Revenue Sharing, and U.S. Policy, June...
Private Security Contractors in Iraq: Background, Legal Status, and Other Issues, updated June 21, 2007 (33 pages, PDF). [via Secrecy News] Related government documents and news: Hearing, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, May 10, 2007: from the transcript of testimony...
"A new national survey by The Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University provides a detailed look at self-identified independents – who they are, what issues matter to them, how they approach politics and elections, and their views...
Defense Acquisitions: An Analysis of the Special Operations Command's Management of Weapon System Programs, GAO-07-620, June 28, 2007. "Special Operations Command's (SOCOM) duties have greatly increased since the attacks of September 11, 2001. Today, Special Operations Forces are at work...
Continuing Challenge of Building the Iraqi Security Forces, Report of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, June 2007 (207 pages, PDF)...
Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, Updated June 20, 2007 Post-War Iraq: Foreign Contributions to Training, Peacekeeping, and Reconstruction, Updated June 18, 2007 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: FY2008 Appropriations, Updated June 13, 2007 Turkey's 2007 Elections: Crisis of Identity...
Press release, June 22, 2007: "House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) introduced legislation today which would uphold the principle of habeas corpus by amending existing law to allow individuals detained,...
From the Project for Excellence in Journalism study overview: "Exactly how many Americans are serving in Iraq and what they are doing there might not seem like complicated questions. Stories in the media regularly talk about the 150,000 U.S. military...
Press release: "The UN refugee agency announced on Tuesday that the number of refugees in the world has increased for the first time since 2002, largely as a result of the crisis in Iraq. UNHCR's "2006 Global Trends" report, released...
Press release: "It is too early to discern trends out of the U.S. troop “surge” as part of the Baghdad security plan, defense officials said here today. Speaking on background, the officials discussed the quarterly report to Congress, titled “Measuring...
06/05/07 Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB): Quarantine and Isolation 06/05/07 Iraq: Government Forrmation and Performance -- Updated 05/31/07 Exporting Software and the Extraterritorial Reach of U.S. Patent Law: Microsoft Corp. v. AT&T Corp. 05/31/07 The U.S. Farm Economy -- Updated 05/30/07...
Rethinking Insurgency, by Dr. Steven Metz, U.S. Army War College, released June 05, 2007. Free Monograph - 76 Pages [via Wired Blogs] "The U.S. military and national security community lost interest in insurgency after the end of the Cold War...
"The Environmental Agents Service (EAS) administers health care programs related to environmental issues, including Operations Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF), Gulf War, Agent Orange, depleted uranium, ionizing radiation, and Project 112 (Including Project SHAD). EAS also oversees the War-Related Illness And...
Iran's Influence in Iraq, Updated May 22, 2007 Immigration Fraud: Policies, Investigations, and Issues, Updated May 17, 2007 Africa Command: U.S. Strategic Interests and the Role of the U.S. Military in Africa, May 16, 2007 Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy...
GAO Findings and Recommendations Regarding DOD and VA Disability Systems GAO-07-906R May 25, 2007: "As of April 2007, about 26,000 service members had been injured as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), according to the...
U.S. Troop Readiness, Vet. Care, Katrina Recov., Iraq Accountability Appr. Act 2007: "Making emergency and additional supplemental appropriations for agricultural and other emergency assistance for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2007, and for other purposes."...
Via the Pew Research Center release, the first quarterly report of the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s News Coverage Index: "The war in Iraq has dwarfed all other topics in the American news media in the early months of 2007—taking...
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Report on Prewar Intelligence Assessments About Postwar Iraq, released May 25, 2007 (229 pages, PDF)...
"Numerous reports indicate that a large percentage of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder. In a hearing on Thursday, May 24, the Committee heard from afflicted soldiers and their...
Immigration Reform: Brief Synthesis of Issue, Updated May 10, 2007 Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, Updated May 10, 2007 Iraq: Government Formation and Performance, Updated May 2, 2007 Israel: Background and Relations with the United States, Updated April 30, 2007...
Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, Updated April 27, 2007 U.S. Foreign Aid to the Palestinians, Updated April 27, 2007 Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses, Updated April 25, 2007 China's Anti-Satellite Weapon Test, April 23, 2007 The Proposed South Korea-U.S....
Press release: "The fourth Mental Health Advisory Team survey, MHAT IV as this survey was called, was conducted in August and September [2006]. For the first time, the survey included Marines in the study group. The MHAT was composed of...
Press release: "Today Chairman Waxman sent a letter to Secretary of State Rice (1) informing the Secretary that the legislative affairs officials in the Department should not hinder the Committee’s inquiry into why Secretary Rice and President Bush cited forged...
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), Review of Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund Unmatched Disbursements at the Department of State, April 26, 2007....
Quarterly Report to Congress from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Quarterly, April 30, 2007 (Highlights, All Sections and Appendices)(PDF) April 30, 2007 Quarterly Report to Congress - Table of Contents to download sections separately...
Status of the Advanced First Responder Network, Audit prepared by the Office of the Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, April 25, 2007....
UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, Human Rights Report, 1 January - 31 March, 2007 (30 pages, PDF) "Large-scale indiscriminate killings and targeted assassinations continue to impede efforts to bring lasting stability and security to Iraq, according to the latest United...
"On Wednesday, the Government Oversight Committee approved the issuance of three subpoenas related to ongoing investigations. The Committee issued two subpoenas to the Republican National Committee requesting the testimony of RNC Chairman Mike Duncan and documents related to possible violations...
Press release: "Military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan can look forward to more timely receipt of benefits, better information and more streamlined processes, thanks to streamlined federal procedures announced today by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson, who chaired...
"On April 24, 2007 the House Oversight Committee held a hearing focusing on misleading information following the death of Army Ranger Specialist Patrick Tillman in Afghanistan and the capture and rescue of Army Private Jessica Lynch in Iraq. The hearing...
Some Implications of Increasing U.S. Forces in Iraq, April 2007 (20 pages, PDF)...
Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq: Conditions in Iraq Are Conducive to Fraud, Waste, and Abuse GAO-07-525T, April 23, 2007: "...Despite U.S. and Iraqi efforts to shift a greater share of the country's defense on Iraqi forces, the security situation continues to...
Iraq: Elections, Constitution, and Government, Updated April 10, 2007 U.S. Trade Policy and the Caribbean: From Trade Preferences to Free Trade Agreements, April 4, 2007 The Strategic Energy Efficiency and Renewables Reserve in the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007 (H.R....
Press release: "The American Civil Liberties Union today made public hundreds of claims for damages by family members of civilians killed or injured by Coalition Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The ACLU received the records in response to a Freedom...
Press release: "After receiving an insufficient response from the State Department's Legislative Affairs office, Chairman Waxman reiterates his request for Secretary Rice to testify on April 18 regarding President Bush's claims that Iraq attempted to procure uranium from Niger and...
Review of the Pre-Iraqi War Activities of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, February 9, 2007 (Public Release Version) - Report Number 07-INTEL-04. Due to the large size of this report file (121 pages), it has...
Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, Updated March 27, 2007 Pakistan and Terrorism: A Summary, March 27, 2007 Post-War Iraq: Foreign Contributions to Training, Peacekeeping, and Reconstruction, Updated March 21, 2007 U.S. Foreign Aid to Lebanon: Issues for Congress, March 21,...
Via Defense Tech, a detailed March 26, 2007 action report, on Iraq authored by former Army general and U.S. Southern Commmand commander Barry R. McCaffrey, that includes the following statements: "Iraq is ripped by a low grade civil war which...
Iraqi Volunteers; Iraqi Refugees: What Is America's Obligation? Ellen Sauerbrey, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration - Statement before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia, Washington, DC, March 26, 2007....
The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11 - Updated March 14, 2007. "With enactment of FY2007 appropriations, Congress has approved a total of about $510 billion for military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign...
About World Day for Water: "The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/47/193 of 22 December 1992 by which 22 March of each year was declared World Day for Water, to be observed starting in 1993, in conformity with the...
Iraq: Tribal Structure, Social, and Political Activities, March 15, 2007 Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security -- Updated, March 12, 2007 The Budget for Fiscal Year 2008, March 12, 2007 The Whistleblower Protection Act: An Overview, March 12, 2007 Iran's Nuclear...
White House: Fact Sheet - Four Years Later: New Strategy Requires Patience and Determination, March 16, 2007. "On The Fourth Anniversary Of The Beginning Of Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Regime Of A Brutal Dictator Has Been Replaced By A Democratically...
Friday, March 16, 2007 - Disclosure of CIA Agent Identity Hearing Examines Exposure of Covert CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson's Identity: "The Oversight Committee held a hearing on whether White House officials followed appropriate procedures for safeguarding the identity of...
Operation Iraqi Freedom: Preliminary Observations on Iraqi Security Forces' Logistical Capabilities, GAO-07-582T, and Highlights, March 9, 2007. "The National Strategy for Victory in Iraq, issued in November 2005, implies a conditions-based linkage between the development of the Iraqi Security Forces...
As reported by Roll Call: "Following a contentious half-day debate, the House Appropriations Committee voted to approve the $124 billion Iraq War spending bill Thursday, attaching several amendments — including a provision to prohibit the closure of Walter Reed Army...
Report to Congress Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, March 2007 (47 pages, PDF)....
Veterans' Disability Benefits: Processing of Claims Continues to Present Challenges GAO-07-562T, and Highlights, March 13, 2007: "VA continues to face challenges in improving service delivery to veterans, specifically speeding up the process of adjudication and appeal, and reducing the existing...
"Chairman Waxman asks Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to respond to a series of unanswered letters, including two letters raising questions about the President’s claim that Iraq sought uranium from Niger." Documents and Links: Letter to Secretary Rice Regarding Fabricated...
Washington Post: "President Bush approved 8,200 more U.S. troops for Iraq and Afghanistan on top of reinforcements already ordered to those two countries...The president agreed to send 4,700 troops to Iraq in addition to the 21,500 he ordered to go...
DOD and VA Health Care: Challenges Encountered by Injured Servicemembers during Their Recovery Process GAO-07-606T, and Highlights, March 8, 2007: "As of March 1, 2007, over 24,000 servicemembers have been wounded in action since the onset of Operation Enduring Freedom...
Via DefenseTech: "Compiled by former West Point professor and military historian Kim Kagan – who’s the sister of Robert Kagan, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and frequent commentator on military affairs and Fred Kagan, one of the...
Via FAS, Army Casualty Program 600-8-1, February 28, 2007 (135 pages, PDF): "This consolidated regulation prescribes policies and mandated tasks governing U.S. Army casualty operations, to include casualty reporting, casualty notification, and casualty assistance." Related postings on casualty data from...
Iraq: Elections, Constitution, and Government, Updated February 27, 2007 Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, Updated February 22, 2007 Iran's Nuclear Program: Recent Developments, Updated February 22, 2007 Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses, Updated February 20, 2007 China-U.S. Relations: Current...
Press release: "City workers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost New York City taxpayers more than $57 million, according to a new report released today by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn & Queens) and Councilman Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island). In...
"OpenStreetMap is an free and open collaborative map of the entire world. We gather GPS tracks and draw maps over them, in an editable wiki style database. And recently we added aerial imagery to our toolbox, thanks to Yahoo!, so...
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press - War Support Slips, Fewer Expect a Successful Outcome - Country is 'Losing Ground' On Deficit, Rich-Poor Gap, Released: February 15, 2007 "Public support for the war in Iraq continues to...
D-2007-060 Management of the Iraq Security Forces Fund in Southwest Asia - Phase II (2/12/2007) (Project D2006-D000LQ-0240.000)...
"On Thursday, February 15, the three top auditors overseeing work in Iraq provided new information about the status of Iraq reconstruction projects and troop support contracts. The hearing examined whether the findings of these auditors should affect Congress' assessment of...
CentCom PowerPoint Slides Briefed to White House and Rumsfeld in 2002, Obtained by National Security Archive through Freedom of Information Act - PowerPoints Reflect Internal Debates Over Size and Timing of Invasion Force - National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book...
Follow up to February 12, 2007 posting, House Concurrent Resolution Opposing Deployment of More Troops to Iraq, see today's transcript of a speech by Congressman Gregory W. Meeks, Member of House Foreign Relations Committee, disapproving of President Bush's decision to...
Introduced today by Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) [Chair, Armed Services Committee]: "House Concurrent Resolution [H.Con.Res. 63] Disapproving of the decision of the President announced on January 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq....
USNews.com: "The Pentagon inspector general has rebuked a former top Defense official for disseminating misleading intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war. The reprimand of former Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith is the latest in a controversy that...
Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, Updated February 1, 2007 Iran's Influence in Iraq, Updated February 2, 2007 Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses, Updated January 23, 2007 Congressional Authority to Limit U.S. Military Operations in Iraq, January 29, 2007 Energy...
CBO: Testimony on Estimating the Costs of Military Operations in Iraq, February 6, 2007...
Committee on Government and Oversight Reform: "Ambassador L. Paul Bremer and Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, testified on management of U.S. funds in Iraq. Questions were raised about an audit report issued in 2005 by Mr....
"From February 6-9, the Oversight Committee will hold four hearings on waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars. The hearings focus on Iraqi reconstruction, Homeland Security contracting, and prescription drug pricing." Tuesday, February 6: The Impact of CPA Decision-making on...
February 2, 2007: Iraq National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) - "Prospects for Iraq's Stability: A Challenging Road Ahead" Unclassified Key Judgments (9 pages, PDF): "...even if violence is diminished, given the current winner-take-all attitude and sectarian animosities infecting the political scene,...
Estimated Costs of Increasing U.S. Forces in Iraq, February 1, 2007. CNN: "A report from the Congressional Budget Office says President Bush's plan for a troop increase in Iraq could cost up to $27 billion for a 12-month deployment."...
Follow-up to my January 30, 2007 posting, DOD OIG Unclassified Summary of Equipment Status of Deployed Forces Within the U.S. Central Command, see today's press release: "Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY-28), Chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, today responded to...
Senate Concurrent Resolution 7 Expressing the Sense of the Congress on Iraq, January 31, 2007. [S.Con.Res.7]...
Special IG for Iraq Reconstruction - January 30, 2007 Quarterly and Semiannual Report to Congress: "Last January, SIGIR identified 2006 as the year of transition, highlighting many challenges to effective turnover of projects and programs to Iraqi control. SIGIR observed...
U.S. Government Accountability Office: Performance and Accountability Highlights: Fiscal Year 2006, GAO-07-3SP, January 30, 2007. "This report presents the highlights of GAO's fiscal year 2006 Performance and Accountability report. In short, fiscal year 2006 was an exceptional year for GAO....
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-9 in favor of the nonbinding measure to limit troops deployed to Iraq. See this statement by Sen. Chris Dodd [declared candidate for President] on the resolution. Dodd has offered an amendement to this...
The Iraqi Security Forces: The Challenge of Sectarian and Ethnic Influences, Updated January 18, 2007 Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, Updated January 17, 2007 Iran: Profile and Statements of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, January 16, 2007 Iraq: Regional Perspectives and U.S....
Press release: "House Republican Leaders and key Ranking Committee Members today unveiled a set of benchmarks designed to measure the progress of President Bush's new strategy in Iraq, and to hold the Bush Administration and the Iraqi government accountable for...
Review of Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR 07-006T), January 18, 2007 United States House Armed Services Committee: "On Thursday, January 18, 2007, Stuart W. Bowen, Jr., Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction provided testimony before a U.S. House of Representatives Committee on...
Table of Contents for LLRX.com - January 15, 2007 issue: Competitive Intelligence - A Selective Resource Guide, by Sabrina I. Pacifici The Impact of Social Networking Tools and Guidelines to Use Them, by LaJean Humphries The Blog - Another Tool...
CBO Testimony on Issues in Budgeting for Operations in Iraq and the War on Terrorism, January 18, 2007....
Part 1 of the January 2007 issue includes: Competitive Intelligence - A Selective Resource Guide: completely revised and updated, by Sabrina I. Pacifici CongressLine by GalleryWatch.com - Authorization and Appropriation, by Paul Jenks The Government Domain: Testing the THOMAS Beta,...
Press release: "The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) issued its ninth bimonthly report on the human rights situation in the country covering the period 1 November to 31 December 2006. The report describes the rampant violence which continues to...
The following documents were released by the White House on January 10, 2007: Highlights of the Iraq Strategy Review [comprising 11 summary briefing slides] Fact Sheet: The New Way Forward in Iraq Background Briefing by Senior Administration Officials Full Transcript...
Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq: Key Issues for Congressional Oversight, GAO-07-308SP, January 9, 2007. "Iraq has had three successful elections, adopted a constitution, and installed its first elected government. At the same time, since the initial ground offensive ended in...
CRS Report - Islam: Sunnis and Shiites, updated December 11, 2006. "The majority of the world's Muslim population follows the Sunni branch of Islam, and approximately 10-15% of all Muslims follow the Shiite (Shi‘ite, Shi‘a, Shia) branch. Shiite populations live...
From a press release by Sen. Harry Reid, January 4, 2007: "...In the first 10 bills we will introduce this afternoon—and in our on-going oversight of the war in Iraq—we intend to address three priorities of the nation: one, providing...
CRS Report, Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, Updated, December 28, 2006....
To mention just a few, see the following: WSJ free feature: Ford Aides Shape Bush Tenure - "President Ford's aides remain powerful figures in the Bush White House, and many have used their years in office to restore executive powers...
Iraq: Elections, Constitution, and Government -- Updated, December 22, 2006....
From the Iraq Index project at Brookings: Tracking Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq "The Iraq Index is a statistical compilation of economic, public opinion, and security data. This resource will provide updated information on various criteria, including crime, telephone...
Report to Congress Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, December 18, 2006 (53 pages, PDF)....
Rebuilding Iraq--Status of DOD's Reconstruction Program GAO-07-30R, December 15, 2006 "While financial data show that DOD has obligated most (97 percent) of its $13.5 billion in fiscal year 2004 reconstruction funds, work-in-place data show that about 29 percent, or $2.3...
Press release: "The Army and Marine Corps announce the release of the Counterinsurgency Field Manual...the new manual pursues a general approach to counterinsurgency, not one aimed specifically at any of the ongoing operations." From the Forward: "It has been 20...
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press: Baker-Hamilton Report Evokes Modest Public Interest Growing Number Sees Iraq Becoming 'Another Vietnam', December 12, 2006. "Despite deep public dissatisfaction with the Iraq war, the highly anticipated report by a bipartisan...
"On December 7, leading Brookings experts will examine the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group and its impact on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Participants include Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow, the Brookings Institution; Kenneth Pollack, senior fellow and...
Paying for Iraq's Reconstruction: An Update - Report prepared for Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Kent Conrad by the Congressional Budget Committee, December 8, 2006....
Press release: "The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved a bill authored by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Norm Coleman (R-MN), and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) that would extend the term of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR)....
December 6, 2006 - Iraq Study Group Official Report Released [Download the report - 160 pages, PDF] Executive Summary of The Iraq Study Group Report: "The United States should immediately launch a new diplomatic offensive to build an international consensus...
Recent CRS Reports made available by FAS: Iraqi Civilian Deaths Estimates, November 22, 2006 Intelligence Estimates: How Useful to Congress?, November 21, 2006...
On Amazon: The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward - A New Approach, by The Iraq Study Group, James A. Baker III, Lee H. Hamilton, 160 pages, Vintage Books (December 6, 2006)....
CRS Report - Iraq: Elections, Government, and Constitution -- Updated November 20, 2006....
The following are available via FAS: Intelligence Estimates: How Useful to Congress?, November 21, 2006 Iraqi Civilian Deaths Estimates, November 22, 2006 Anti-Terrorism Authority Under the Laws of the United Kingdom and the United States, September 7, 2006...
New York Times: "The insurgency in Iraq is now self-sustaining financially, raising tens of millions of dollars a year from oil smuggling, kidnapping, counterfeiting, connivance by corrupt Islamic charities and other crimes that the Iraqi government and its American patrons...
Human Rights Watch: Judging Dujail - The First Trial before the Iraqi High Tribunal...
Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, Updated November 7, 2006 Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses, Updated November 1, 2006 Covert Action: Legislative Background and Possible Policy Questions, November 2, 2006 Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 109th Congress, Updated November...
Press release: "Today House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Ike Skelton (MO) will introduce legislation to improve the ability of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGR) to investigate and hold accountable the spending of billions of dollars in...
The New Senate Chiefs, by Will Sullivan, Posted 11/10/06. Includes overviews of new committee chairmen for: Appropriations, Armed Services, Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Budget, Energy and Natural Resources, Finance, Foreign Relations, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Homeland Security and...
SENATE: Republican (49) Democratic (49) Independent (2) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Republican (196) Democratic (230) Independent (0) National Journal's Almanac of American Politics: The Newly Elected Members Of Congress The Democratic Agenda: Legislative Priorities, by Marilyn Werber Serafini, National Journal The...
Covert Action: Legislative Background and Possible Policy Questions, November 2, 2006 Pakistan-U.S. Relations, Updated October 26, 2006 Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1998-2005, October 23, 2006 Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, Updated October 18, 2006 Weapons of Mass Destruction:...
National Security Archive press release, November 4, 2006: "November 4, 2006 - In late April 1999, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), led by Marine General Anthony Zinni (ret.), conducted a series of war games known as Desert Crossing in...
House Armed Services Committee Chair Rep. Duncan Hunter today released two documents in reference to the termination of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction funding. Background Memo: The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Funding Provision in the National...
Status of the Provincial Reconstruction Team Program in Iraq (48 pages, PDF), October 29, 2006: "The U.S. government continues to advance capacity-development programs in Iraq's ministries and provinces. For the past four decades, Iraq was a statist economy with a...
"Foremost among the challenges confronting transition this quarter was the U.S. government’s effort to ensure that the remaining money in the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Funds (IRRF) was obligated by the September 30, 2006 statutory deadline. It appears that the...
Management of the Iraqi Interim Government Fund, (25 pages, PDF), October 27, 2006 "In 2004, the Iraqi Interim Government established the Iraqi Interim Government Fund (IIGF), providing $136 million from the Development Fund for Iraq for U.S. military commanders to...
The Boston Herald reported on new policies that have been implemented to monitor and limit the content of military blogs published by personnel in Iraq, in the interests of operational security....
Press release: "In a second letter to the Iraq Study Group today, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) again urged the Group to release its initial judgements on the Iraq war through an interim report, without consideration to the political calendar....
Excerpt of letter dated October 20, 2006: "Iraq continues a rapid descent into full-scale civil war, with our troops increasingly caught in the middle. Over 200 U.S. troops were killed in the last 90 days, including 70 in the first...
Army's Iraq Project and Contracting Office: "This 26-page booklet [A Report on Iraq Reconstruction] recaps the U.S. Army's reconstruction efforts in Iraq. The booklet contains a short history of post-war reconstruction as well as describes recent efforts, accomplishments, and significant...
Press release - Portion of letter addressed to James A. Baker III, Co-Chair Iraq Study Group: "...Over the past several weeks, you have repeatedly said that the Iraq Study Group would not provide an independent assessment on the situation in...
Press release: "One in four veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars are filing disability claims, according to records released by the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) under the Freedom of Information Act after nine months of denying their...
Rebuilding Iraq: Status of Competition for Iraq Reconstruction Contracts, Full text GAO-07-40, and Highlights, October 6, 2006. "Since 2003, Congress has appropriated more than $20 billion through the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF) to support Iraq rebuilding efforts. The...
06-038 - Unclassified Summary of SIGIR's Review of Efforts to Increase Iraq's Capability to Protect Its Energy Infrastructure (12 pages, PDF) September 27, 2006....
In a September 25, 2006 letter to Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) requested the declassification of portions of the April 2006 National Intelligence Estimate, to the "fullest extent possible," following reporting by the New York...
House Intelligence Committee Releases Report on al-Qaeda: "The report addresses how five years after 9-11 al-Qaeda and other radical Islamist organizations remain determined to carry out attacks against the United States, our allies and U.S. interests abroad." Al Qaeda: The...
Press release: Wyden, Bond, Senators Ask for Review of Classified Information in Senate Intelligence Report, Say Documents Were Overclassified - Request Marks First Time New Board Asked to Review Classification, September 19, 2006: "A bipartisan group of Senators who serve...
Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses -- Updated September 11, 2006 Iraq: Elections, Government, and Constitution -- Updated September 11, 2006 Iran's Nuclear Program: Recent Developments -- Updated September 6, 2006...
Senate Intelligence Committee: Postwar Findings about Iraq's WMD Programs and Links to Terrorism and How they Compare with Prewar Assessments (151 pages, PDF), September 8, 2006. The Use by the Intelligence Community of Information Provided by the Iraqi National Congress,...
Press release: "Third Way today issued a new report analyzing the Bush administration’s record on national security. The report was released at a press conference in the Capitol with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, retired General Wesley Clark, Assistant Minority...
Press release: "The National Security Archive is today posting State Department documents from 2002 tracing the inception of the "Future of Iraq Project," alongside the final, mammoth 13-volume study, previously obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. "The Future of...
New LC Country Profile of Iraq, August 2006....
RL32812 - The Budget for Fiscal Year 2006, July 25, 2006, Philip D. Winters (29 pages, PDF)."In March 2006, the House passed a $92 billion supplemental appropriation (H.R. 4939). The funding, requested by the President, included $68 billion for military...
Department of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs: Iraq Reports "This comprehensive status report on Iraq provides weekly updates in the eight key areas identified as pillars of U.S. Government policy."...
Follow-up to August 1, 2006 posting, Findings of Upcoming Report on Administration Policies on WMD and NSA, see the Final Investigative Report of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff: The Constitution in Crisis: The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation,...
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR): Changes in Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund Program Activities – January through March 2006, (18 pages, PDF), July 28, 2006....
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR): Joint Survey of the U.S. Embassy – Iraq's Anticorruption Program (33 pages, PDF), July 28, 2006. "Corruption in Iraq siphons resources from needed government services and reduces the willingness of...
The July 2006 Section 2207 report provides updates on Iraq Relief and Reconstruction....
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR): Transition of Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund Projects to the Iraqi Government, (30 pages, PDF), July 28, 2006. "This SIGIR review looked narrowly at IRRF-funded assets including their transfer and...
Press release: "In the 53-page report, "No Blood, No Foul: Soldiers’ Accounts of Detainee Abuse in Iraq," soldiers describe how detainees were routinely subjected to severe beatings, painful stress positions, severe sleep deprivation, and exposure to extreme cold and hot...
CBO - Estimated Costs of U.S. Operations in Iraq Under Two Specified Scenarios, July 14, 2006...
Rebuilding Iraq: More Comprehensive National Strategy Needed to Help Achieve U.S. Goals, Full-text GAO-06-788, and Highlights, July 11, 2006: "...it is unclear how the United States will achieve its desired end-state in Iraq given the significant changes in the assumptions...
Press release, July 7, 2006: "The Department of State has released the second Presidential report to the United States Congress on "U.S. Policy on Iraq" as mandated by the FY 2006 National Defense Authorization Act, Section 1227 (c). The "1227...
Bush Directed Cheney To Counter War Critic, by Murray Waas, National Journal, July 3, 2006: "President Bush told the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case that he directed Vice President Dick Cheney to personally lead an effort to counter...
Follow-up to March 31, 2006 posting, see Iraq Index: Tracking Variables of Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq, Brookings Institution, June 29, 2006 (57 pages, PDF)...
Review of Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR-06-003T), House Committee on International Relations. On June 8, 2006, SIGIR provided testimony before the House Committee on International Relations as part of the Committee's review of U.S. reconstruction efforts in Iraq. Full Statement of Stuart...
Iraq: Elections, Government, and Constitution, Updated June 15, 2006 Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, Updated June 14, 2006...
Press release: Pew Global Attitudes Survey 2006: Findings on U.S. Image, Views of Iraq and Iran The 15-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey, by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, conducted among nearly 17,000 people in the United States and 14 other...
AP: Pentagon Details U.S. Abuse of Detainees - Pentagon Says U.S. Forces Used Unapproved Interrogation Practices on Iraq, Afghan Detainees DOJ: Documents released in litigation on June 15, 2006 Formica Report Jacoby Report Schmidt-Furlow Report Enclosures Record of Courts Martial,...
In anticipation of the scheduled 10 hour debate on Iraq tomorrow, authored by Rep. Rahm Emanuel (and posted by Rep. Jack Kingston), this one page fact sheet of 15 bullet points on the current state of affairs in Iraq, for...
Democratic Policy Committee Report, June 12, 2006: "Summary, S. 2766, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007, would authorize $467.7 billion in budget authority for defense programs in Fiscal Year 2007, an increase of $26.2 billion, or 4.1...
Department of State Fact Sheet: "The Iraqi Virtual Science Library (IVSL), launched on May 3, 2006, is a digital portal that provides Iraqi universities and research institutes with access to an outstanding collection of millions of full text articles from...
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR): Review of Data Entry and General Controls in the Collecting and Reporting of the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, April 30, 2006. (full text report, 363 pages, PDF) See also Iraqi Armed Forces...
Government Reform, Minority Cmte: Terrorism Attacks Surge in 2005 - Friday, April 28, 2006 -- New data from the National Counterterrorism Center shows that terrorist attacks have increased exponentially in the three years since the United States invaded Iraq -...
The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11 (40 pages, PDF) "CRS estimates that Congress has appropriated a total of about $368 billion for military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and...
Prewar Intelligence: Is There A Double Standard On Leak Probes? by Murray Waas, National Journal: "On the eve of the invasion of Iraq, Sen. Pat Roberts was involved in disclosing sensitive intelligence information that, according to four former senior intelligence...
Cheney Authorized Leak Of CIA Report Libby Says, by Murray Waas, National Journal: "Vice President Dick Cheney directed his then-chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on July 12, 2003 to leak to the media portions of a then-highly classified...
Follow-up to yesterday's posting, New Libby Filing Demands Release of Documents Related to Iraq Intel ["The defense intends to show the jury that the controversy over intelligence failures during the spring and summer of 2003 led certain officials within the...
Another update on U.S. v. Libby, via FindLaw: "'Scooter' Libby’s defense attorneys charge that prosecutors refuse to turnover relevant discovery materials for his criminal defense, and that public interest shows "that this case is factually complex and that the government's...
Faces of the Fallen: "This information has been compiled from military releases, news service reports and local newspaper stories. The photographs come from news services, local newspapers and family members."...
Follow-up to April 10, 2006 posting, President Defends Declassification of Pre-War Iraq Intel, this press release today from California Senator Barbara Boxer: "Boxer Seeks Apology from President for Politically-Motivated Leaks...Yesterday, you justified your actions by saying, "I wanted people to...
Follow-up to April 9, 2006 posting, Reports Substantiate WH Plan to Discredit Iraq War Critic Via Plame CIA Leak, President Bush Discusses Global War on Terror at The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University,...
Follow-up to April 7, 2006 posting, Plame Leak Controversy Focused on President With Release of New Info, see: today's Washington Post: Prosecutor Describes Cheney, Libby as Key Voices Pitching Iraq-Niger Story: "As he drew back the curtain this week on...
"Only 14 of the full 93 pages of the National Intelligence Estimate that President Bush authorized Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, to disclose to New York Times reporter Judith Miller has actually been officially declassified,...
Follow-up to posting on April 7, Plame Leak Controversy Focused on President With Release of New Info, from today's Washington Post, Testimony Adds New Element to Probe of CIA Leak: "...court papers filed late Wednesday night by Special Counsel Patrick...
Press release: "In a letter to President Bush, Rep. Waxman asks for a full accounting of the President's and Vice President's actions in authorizing leaks of classified intelligence about Iraq, while at the same time concealing the President's knowledge of...
Iraq Index: Tracking Variables of Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq, Brookings Institution, March 30, 2006 (52 pages, PDF) See also Brookings Iraq Index Archives: "...a statistical compilation of economic, public opinion, and security data. This resource will provide updated...
Prewar Intelligence - Insulating Bush, by Murray Waas, National Journal, Thursday, March 30, 2006. "Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser, cautioned other White House aides in the summer of 2003 that Bush's 2004 re-election prospects would be severely damaged...
Press release: "U.S. Joint Forces Command will release on Friday, March 24 an unclassified historical report in book form on the Iraqi view of coalition military operations conducted in Iraq. Conducted by U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint Center for Operational...
Saddam's Delusions: The View from the Inside, By Kevin Woods, James Lacey, and Williamson Murray, From Foreign Affairs, May/June 2006 "Summary: A special, double-length article from the upcoming May/June issue of Foreign Affairs, presenting key excerpts from the recently declassified...
Defense Logistics: Several Factors Limited the Production and Installation of Army Truck Armor During Current Wartime Operations, March 22, 2006 (69 pages, PDF)...
From askSam: Searchable version of the The National Security Strategy of the United States Searchable version of the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq Related postings on these documents: White House Releases National Security Strategy 2006 and Administration Presents Strategy...
Press release: Office of the Director of National Intelligence Releases Captured Documents - March 16, 2006 "At the request of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the US Army Foreign Military Studies Office has created this portal to...
What Bush Was Told About Iraq, by Murray Waas, National Journal, Thursday, March 2, 2006 "Two highly classified intelligence reports delivered directly to President Bush before the Iraq war cast doubt on key public assertions made by the president, Vice...
Released: February 28, 2006 - U.S. Troops in Iraq: 72% Say End War in 2006...
DoD Press release: Report Charts Iraqi Political, Economic, Security Progress Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, Report to Congress, February 2006 (57 pages, PDF) New York Times - earlier today ran this headline, U.S. Envoy in Baghdad Says Iraq Is...
Following up on February 9, 2006 posting, Investigation into Plame CIA Leak Involves Other White House Officials, this WSJ free feature, Cheney Role Risks Political Fallout: CIA-Leak Case May Hand War Critics Momentum, But Legal Issues Are Slim - "The...
Intelligence, Policy, and the War in Iraq, by Paul R. Pillar, From Foreign Affairs, March/April 2006 Summary: "During the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, writes the intelligence community's former senior analyst for the Middle East, the Bush administration disregarded...
Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information, by Murray Waas, National Journal, Feb. 9, 2006: "Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney...
PBS Now, February 3, 2006: David Brancaccio's interview on Iraq Pre-War Intelligence, with Lawrence B. Wilkerson, who was Chief of Staff at the Department of State, August 2002 to January 2005. Related posting, Powell's Former Chief of Staff Challenges Administration...
Gallup: More Than Half of Americans Feel Bush Deliberately Misled Country on Iraq WMD Related postings on WMD...
Iraq, Niger, And The CIA - By Murray Waas, special to National Journal, Feb. 2, 2006: "Vice President Cheney and his then-Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were personally informed in June 2003 that the CIA no longer considered...
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) January 30, 2006 Quarterly and Semiannual Report to Congress. "SIGIR audits are conducted to determine whether programs and operations funded by the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF) are being...
Press release: "Judicial Watch, the public interest group that fights government corruption, today released a declassified "Secret/NOFORN" State Department intelligence analysis cable, dated March 4, 2002, from the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Office of Analysis for Africa. The analysis,...
WSJ free feature: Some Iraq Rebuilding Funds Go Untraced - Investigators Have Yet to Pursue U.S. Contracting Money That May Be Missing: "More than 18 months after the Pentagon disbanded the Coalition Provisional Authority that ran Iraq, neither the Justice...
The Economic Costs of the Iraq War: An Appraisal Three Years After the Beginning of the Conflict, By Linda Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz Working Paper Number: RWP06-002 (37 pages, PDF). Submitted: 01/11/2006. ""We have not attempted in this paper...
S. 2175 - A bill to require the submittal to Congress of any Presidential Daily Briefing relating to Iraq during the period beginning on January 20, 1997, and ending on March 19, 2003. Sponsor: Sen Kennedy, Edward M. [MA](introduced 12/21/2005)....
A running total of the U.S. taxpayer cost of the Iraq War is provided by the National Priorities Project, using data from Congressional appropriations. The war in Iraq costs, to date, are in excess of $230 billion. Iraq coalition casualties...
Sydney Morning Herald: US military finds soldiers' blogs too close for comfort: "In a development that is worrying US military commanders in Iraq, a growing number of US soldiers - 200 at the last count - have set up their...
Report prepared by the Minority Staff of the House Judiciary Committee, The Constitution in Crisis; The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, and Coverups in the Iraq War (273 pages, HTML link to Table of Contents) Press release...
As a follow-up to Administration Presents Strategy For Victory in Iraq, today the President Discusses Iraqi Elections, Victory in the War on Terror, The Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, D.C.: "When we made the decision to go into Iraq, many intelligence...
News about administration use of propaganda is further documented in this December 10 New York Times article, Military's Information War Is Vast and Often Secretive. Related link: Lincoln Group press release, December 2, 2005: "Lincoln Group has consistently worked with...
Until today, Valerie Plame worked for the CIA's Counterproliferation Division. The investigation into which government personnel were responsible for leaking her identity remains ongoing. Related news: Time Reporter Testifies in Leak Case Rove Lawyer Was Deposed Last Week by Special...
Follow-up to postings on government sponsored propaganda: today the Military Explains News Propaganda in Iraq. Washington Post publishes transcript of Sen. John Warner's Press Conference on Iraqi Media...
November 30, 2005: President Outlines Strategy for Victory in Iraq, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland Fact Sheet: Training Iraqi Security Forces In Focus: National Strategy for Victory in Iraq Related documents: LA Times (reg. req'd), U.S. Military Covertly Pays...
White House press release, November 15, 2005, Setting the Record Straight: The New York Times Editorial on Pre-War Intelligence. WSJ free feature: Majority Believe White House Misleads Public, Poll Shows New York Times: Even Supporters Doubt President as Issues Pile...
Key Bush Intelligence Briefing Kept From Hill Panel, by Murray Waas, special to National Journal. "Ten days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush was told in a highly classified...
From the Democratic Policy Committee: Bush Administration's Iraq Claims at Odds with Pre-War Intelligence, Post-War Evidence, November 18, 2005 (13 pages, PDF) - "This document compares each of the Bush Administration's major claims to both the intelligence available before the...
LA Times: "The German intelligence officials responsible for one of the most important informants on Saddam Hussein's suspected weapons of mass destruction say that the Bush administration and the CIA repeatedly exaggerated his claims during the run-up to the war...
Transcript for November 20, Meet the Press: John Murtha, Anthony Fauci, Julie Gerberding, Michael Leavitt and Michael Ryan. Rep. John Murtha: "Well, I tell you, Cheney's a friend of mine. We work very closely together. He was a good secretary...
Rep. John P. Murtha's statement of November 17, 2005: War in Iraq "The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion. The American public is way ahead of us. The United States...
A timely reminder on a useful resource: see Iraq on the Record. "Prepared at the direction of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Iraq on the Record is a searchable collection of 237 specific misleading statements made by Bush Administration officials about...
U.S. Foreign Policy and the Middle East by Senator Chuck Hagel, November 15, 2005 - Delivered at the Council on Foreign Relations, Washington, DC. "The Iraq war should not be debated in the United States on a partisan political platform....
Editor & Publisher, Another Leak Probe? GOP Calls for Investigation into 'Wash Post' Scoop on CIA 'Black Sites' New York Times: November 9, 2005 - Report Warned on C.I.A.'s Tactics in Interrogation AP, Senate rejects 9/11 style commission to review...
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Audit Reports: "SIGIR audits are conducted to determine whether programs and operations funded by the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF) are being managed efficiently, effectively and economically, and if they are achieving the...
New York Times: Report Warned Bush Team About Intelligence Suspicions: "A high Qaeda official in American custody was identified as a likely fabricator months before the Bush administration began to use his statements as the foundation for its claims that...
Editor and Publisher: CBS Poll Finds Public Takes Plamegate Seriously Washington Post: Bush's Popularity Reaches New Low - 58 Percent in Poll Question His Integrity Poll conducted by Zogby: Majority of likely voters support considering impeachment over Iraq, 53-42 percent...
Follow-up to yesterday's posting, Senate Democratic Leader Invokes Rare Closed Session to Force Review of WMD Intel - see this related press release from the Senate Democratic Communications Center, November 1, 2005: "For more than two years, Senate Democrats have...
Senate Democrats invoked rarely used Rule 21 to force a closed door meeting today with the goal of obtaining an agreement to fully investigate the administration's use of WMD documents as a justification for the Iraq war. According to a...
Press release: "Congressman Jerrold Nadler today demanded the House Judiciary Committee investigate whether White House officials deliberately deceived Congress in order to obtain its authorization of the war in Iraq. In a letter to Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr....
"As arguably the most important war crimes proceedings since Nuremberg, the trials of Saddam Hussein are likely to constitute a "Grotian Moment" — defined as a legal development that is so significant that it can create new customary international law...
Rep. John Conyers. Jr., ConyersBlog: "The truisms of Watergate are the same: it is not the crime, it is the cover up and, when there is a cover up, there is a crime. And the questions are the same: What...
Full Text (HTML): U.S. v. Libby Indictment, Office of Special Counsel, Friday, October 28, 2005; 1:49 PM Link to indictment from DOJ website (22 pages, PDF) US Newswire - White House Official I. Lewis Libby Indicted on Obstruction of Justice,...
As reported by UPI today: "NATO sources have confirmed to United Press International that Fitzgerald's team of investigators has sought and obtained documentation on the forgeries from the Italian government. Fitzgerald's team has been given the full, and as yet...
Intelligence and Analysis on Iraq: Issues for the Intelligence Community, 29 July 2004; approved for release August 2005. (12 pages, PDF) "This is the third in a series of reports by the Kerr Group (Richard Kerr, Thomas Wolfe, Rebecca Donegan,...
From the National Security Archives press release today: "The National Security Archive today posted a series of declassified U.S. intelligence documents and other U.S. agency reports on Saddam Hussein's human rights abuses, one of which is the subject of the...
Additional update to this issue, as the controversy escalates, October 14, 2005 Washington Post (reg. req'd): Caught on Tape Follow-up to my postings on the expanding controversy associated with federal government sponsored news, see also today's AP article, Bush Teleconference...
Press release: On September 29, 2005, CCR attorneys lauded the landmark decision issued today by federal district court Judge Alvin Hellerstein that ordered the Department of Defense to release hundreds of new photographs and videotapes of abuse in Iraq that...
During this week of unfathomable loss, a remembrance of American service personnel who have died in the Iraq war, whose number is now over 2000....
Press release, Tuesday, June 21, 2005 -- "At the first congressional hearing on the Development Fund for Iraq, Rep. Waxman releases a report on the U.S. mismangement of Iraqi funds. The report details the billions in cash transferred from the...
Press release: Tuesday, June 21, 2005 - "Rep. Waxman, Democratic Leader Pelosi, and other senior Democrats announced they will introduce legislation to establish an independent Comission to investigate abuses of detainees in connection with Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom,...
Follow-up to my May 9 posting, Justification for War Questioned by 88 Reps, today the Senate Democratic Policy Committee issued the following press release: New Intelligence Memo Raises Serious Questions About the Bush Administration's Case for War in Iraq. Update:...
This May 1, 2005 UK Times article, Blair hit by new leak of secret war plan, is referenced in this May 5, 2005 letter of inquiry (8 pages, PDF) to President Bush, signed by 88 U.S. Representatives. The letter asks...
Press release from the National Security Archive: "Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005 - In response to Freedom of Information Act requests and a lawsuit, the Pentagon this week released hundreds of previously secret images of casualties returning to honor guard...
4/25 -- Comprehensive Revised Report with Addendums [addendas] on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (Duelfer Report) "The Special Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) has released a revised edition of his September...
Press release, Committee on Government Reform, Minority Office - Withheld Data Shows 'Dramatic Up-tick' in Terrorist Attacks "Tuesday, April 26, 2005 -- At a congressional briefing yesterday, Administration officials revealed that the data that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has...
From the New York Times, Report Calls U.S. Intelligence 'Dead Wrong' on Iraq Weapons. See also related references. Report by the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, March 31, 2005 About the...
From AP, WMD Panel to Fault Intelligence Agencies, and the New York Times, Panel's Report Assails C.I.A. for Failure on Iraq Weapons. Flashback: President Bush Announces Formation of Independent Commission...to look at American intelligence capabilities, especially our intelligence about weapons...
Released March 10, 2005 to the Senate Armed Services Committee, this Review of DoD Detention Operations and Detainee Interrogation Techniques (21 pages, PDF), authored by Vice Adm. Albert T. Church III, determined that there was "no policy that considered or...
The LA Times (reg. req'd) reported on February 1 that the CIA issued a classified report, "Iraq: No Large-Scale Chemical Warfare Efforts Since Early 1990s."...
From the Uk Guardian, Iraq's library struggles to rise from the ashes -Remains of national history are slowly pieced together....
From the independent, non-partisan Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), Latest Figures on Federal Expenditures:National Trends and Area Rankings: "The latest available information on overall federal expenditures shows that per capita spending by the government is up 15% since President Bush...
From the press release: "The National Security Archive today filed suit against the Central Intelligence Agency ("CIA") seeking the expedited processing and release under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") of the 2004 Iraq National Intelligence Estimate ("NIE). As the...
Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction, which was prepared by Charles Duelfer, chief weapons inspector for the Iraqi Survey Group. This report is in three volumes, comprising 1000...
From the New York Times, July 11: "The Central Intelligence Agency's decision to delete extensive sections of a Senate report on faulty Iraq intelligence has so outraged Senator Trent Lott that Mr. Lott, the former majority leader, is calling for...
Today the Senate Committee on Intelligence released a report detailing intelligence failures prior to the invasion of Iraq. Report Says Key Assertions Leading to War Were Wrong Conclusions Excerpted From Full Report, Conclusion 1. Most of the major key judgments...
Today the Commission released Staff Statement No. 15, Overview of the Enemy, (12 pages, PDF): From page five of the report: "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States." Also released...
"In a Freedom of Information Act request, the Federation of American Scientists requested copies of [three CDs] discs with "abuses committed against Iraqi prisoners held in the custody of US government or coalition forces in Iraq." [Link]...
Iraq: Legal News & International Law includes updated links to Iraq news compiled from sources around the world, selected online articles discussing international legal issues in Iraq, research websites, reports and research papers, documents, inspections and sanctions, human rights issues,...
"Department of Defense spokesman Bryan Whitman and Dana Milbank of the Washington Post debate the Pentagon's ban on media coverage of the return of fallen service members that was broken twice this week." [Link] The gallery of 361 photos, obtained...
When Spin Spins Out of Control: "From scientific data to health facts to intelligence in the war in Iraq, the Bush White House has been dogged by a string of high-profile controversies over how it handles information."...
From Rep. Henry Waxman, Ranking Member, Committee on Government Reform, this searchable database comprises "237 specific misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq...made by "five officials (President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary...
Yesterday the Chair, Sen. Roberts, and Vice Chair, Sen. Rockefeller, of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, announced what they described as a refinement of the terms of reference for the committee's inquiry, already underway, into the controversy surrounding intelligence...
Microsoft issued a download for Office 2003/XP to allow users to"permanently remove hidden data and collaboration data, such as change tracking and comments, from Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint files." An important issue in itself, made even more...
WMD in Iraq: Evidence and Implications: "This new Carnegie Report studies what the intelligence community understood about Iraq's WMD programs before the war and outlines policy reforms designed to improve threat assessments, deter transfer of WMD to terrorists, and avoid...
Bush to Seek Intelligence Failures Probe: President Bush to Sign Executive Order Seeking Investigation of Intelligence Failures in Iraq See also this New York Times article that reports the work of the commission will encompass an examination of American intelligence...
From the Congressional Budget Office: The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2005 to 2014, January 2004 and a second report, Paying for Iraq's Reconstruction, January 2004 [Link, requires readers to choose download format - pdf or WP] CBO Projects...
From today's Washington Post (WP), an article titled White House Web Scrubbing details the ongoing removal of controversial documents from government websites by the White House. A specific example is the disappearance from the USAID site of a link to...
This article from the October 21 Washington Post answers the question of why there is no longer any media coverage on the return of our military personnel who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq. Apparently this past March, the Pentagon...
Executive Order 13315 of August 28, 2003, Blocking Property of the Former Iraqi Regime, Its Senior Officials and Their Family Members, and Taking Certain Other Actions....
See In This Library's Tale, Seeds Of Mistrust and Hope in Iraq, from today's Wall Street Journal (subscription req'd) that provides new information concerning the whereabouts of much of the collection ransacked from Iraq's National Library. "Now, a prime chunk...
On April 14, Secretary of State Powell issued this press release, Cooperation for the Safeguarding of Iraqi Antiquities and Cultural Property. See my related postings on the recent lootings of the Iraqi National Museum and libraries. For reference, from the...
See Burn a Country's Past and You Torch Its Future: "Do libraries really matter for a nation's sense of its self? Evidently Iraqis felt the destruction of their national library, archives and museum in the past week as a loss...
Infomania is a blog with links to Iraqi related news and web resources, maintained by Elisabeth L. Donovan, Miami Herald Research Editor....
New legislation introduced on April 10 by Senators Wyden, Clinton and Collins: To require public disclosure of noncompetitive contracting for the reconstruction of the infrastructure of Iraq, and for other purposes (S. 876)....
According to social policy researcher and author Daniel Forbes, "the Russian military analysis Web site, Iraqwar.ru,....offered detailed predictions about coalition troop movements many hours or even days in advance," but was yanked off-line last week....
Via AP, this story from April 15: "Looters and arsonists ransacked and gutted Iraq's National Library, leaving a smoldering shell Tuesday of precious books turned to ash and a nation's intellectual legacy gone up in smoke. They also looted and...
The Washington Post reported on Sunday that the National Museum of Antiquities in Baghdad was looted of its priceless collection and "an extensive card catalog of every item the museum owns, some of which date back 5,000 years, was destroyed."...
Take a moment to look in on this Iraq War Blog by Angela Gunn, whose well-researched and thoughful commentary includes an interesting range of topics and sources of information not necessarily found on other sites....
The Pew Internet & American Life Project issued a press release today on a new report that indicates "some 77% of online Americans have used the Internet in connection with the war in Iraq." A link to the full-text report,...
From FindLaw's website, Special Coverage, The War in Iraq, links that include: International Humanitarian Law (Law Of War), Other Treaties, Conventions and Protocols, and Coalition Rules For Embedded Journalists....
Iraq rebuilding contracts awarded: "The first contracts for rebuilding post-war Iraq have been awarded, and Vice President Dick Cheney's old employer, Halliburton Co., is one of the early winners...President Bush Tuesday asked Congress for $489.3 million to cover the cost...
From the Boston University School of Law Library, via the Big Ear, Links and citations to articles and reports related to international law and the crisis in Iraq....
The Command Post is a community blog with authors around the world who provide brief, predominently unbiased and continually updated information on a range of war related news and issues. Worth a look! Also, be sure to check-out the National...
Rob Truman, Head of Electronic Information Services, Boley Law Library, Lewis & Clark Law School, alerted me to his resource guide, War on Iraq, that includes links to news sites, government and defense related information, as well blogs devoted to...
The Wall Street Journal reports on how American troops in the Gulf are using e-mail, personal web sites and blogs, such as LT SMASH, to communicate directly with family, friends and others. Although there are over 500 reporters in the...
LexisNexis announced on March 24 that the company is now providing its subscribers and the public with access to breaking news and developments concerning the war, via this website: Free News From LexisNexis on Iraq. Subscribers are also given access...
See this posting from CNN's Kevin Sites that states his war blog, begun March 9, ended on March 21. I had alerted readers about this unique blog on March 17. Do check-out J-Log, Journalism Topics and News, Media Views (via...
Kenote Systems announced that the company will provide regular reports on the performance of the communications networks that comprise the Internet backbone, as well as on major government and commercial sites, during the course of the war with Iraq. Keynote...
Reporters' Log: At war in Iraq: "The BBC's unrivalled team of correspondents is bringing you news from the Gulf and reaction from around the world. On this page BBC News Online logs their impressions and personal experiences as they watch...
The start of the war against Iraq has generated a huge spike in web traffic to military sites, along with associated bottlenecks, which have impacted access to sites that include the U.S. Army Home Page and the UK Home Office's...
Tim Rozgonyi, Assistant Technology Systems Editor, Pittsburgh Gazette, has published a useful and timely annotated list of links, Iraq, War on Terrorism. Links are arranged by the following categories: Country Information Government reports Government websites Maps Military and war-related sites...
CNN correspondent Kevin Sites is blogging from inside Iraq, and his postings include text, audio and photos. His archives begin on March 9....