Andrew McCarthy | National Review.com It has been over 20 years since the American-sponsored Afghan mujahideen stunned the world by forcing the invading Red Army to withdraw, a major falling domino in the Soviet collapse. Now Jack Devine, a former top CIA official who was instrumental in that effort, argues that, in today’s war, there [...]

 Nikolas Gvosdev | World Politics Review.com This week, President Barack Obama reaffirmed U.S. plans to end its combat mission in Iraq at the end of August, and to pull out the 50,000 troops that will remain past that date in a supporting, advisory role by the end of 2011. The president emphatically stated that “we [...]

Mimi Hall | USA Today.com The Postal Service is ready to deliver lifesaving drugs to about a quarter of the residents of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the only metropolitan area in the nation where letter carriers have been trained to dispense medication after a large-scale terrorist attack involving biological weapons. Six years after the government began exploring [...]

The US isn’t withdrawing from Iraq at all – it’s rebranding the occupation. Seumas Milne | Guardian.co.uk For most people in Britain and the US, Iraq is already history. Afghanistan has long since taken the lion’s share of media attention, as the death toll of Nato troops rises inexorably. Controversy about Iraq is now almost [...]

Kay Armin Serjoie and Thomas Erdbrink | Washington Post.com An explosive was thrown at the motorcade of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in central Iran on Wednesday, witnesses said. But his office quickly denied any attack had taken place, saying a “firecracker” had gone off. Witnesses described the incident as minor. One person was arrested, according [...]

Gareth Porter | Anti War.com That statement was in line with the pledge he had made on Feb. 27, 2009, when he said, “Let me say this as plainly as I can: by Aug. 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end.” Seventeen months after President Barack Obama pledged to withdraw all combat brigades [...]

  Scott Horton, assistant editor of Anti War.com and Stress Blog.com debunks the Talking Head Iran War Propaganda and mockingbird water cooler talking points.

Mario Andrade | Dead Line Live.info Earlier this week, Sinaloa drug cartel leader Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel was killed in a raid conducted by the Mexican military. According to several media and official Mexican government reports, Coronel had a long criminal history and played significant roles mostly within the Sinaloa cartel. He was currently a member [...]

Declan McCullagh | C Net.com The United States should decide on rules for attacking other nations’ networks in advance of an actual cyberwar, which could include an international agreement not to disable banks and electrical grids, the former head of the CIA and National Security Agency said Thursday. Michael Hayden, who was the principal deputy [...]

Agence France Press | Raw Story.com Iran’s main economic partner China has invested around 40 billion dollars in the Islamic republic’s oil and gas sector, a senior Iranian official said on Saturday. Deputy Oil Minister Hossein Noqrehkar Shirazi also said that Tehran’s oil exports to China fell by 30 percent in the first six months [...]