Military

Is There Really a Terrorist Threat?

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 11, 2013 "It is more plausible to look upon the embassy closures and the official accounts thereof as political theater and insulting, cynical manipulation than it is to accept them at face value," author Patrick Smith writes at Salon. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Israel Gives Settlements Go-Ahead on Eve of Palestinian Peace Talks

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 11, 2013 Israel approved nearly 1,200 new housing units Sunday on land that the Palestinians claim for their state just three days before U.S.-sponsored peace talks on the borders of such a state are due to begin in Jerusalem. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Truthdigger of the Week: Lavabit’s Ladar Levison

BLANK Aug 11, 2013 Americans love an underdog So they should be cheering Ladar Levison, a 32-year-old digital security specialist who closed the email service he operated for 10 years rather than help the US government spy on his customers So they should be cheering a digital security specialist who closed the service he operated for 10 years rather than help the government spy on his customers. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

NSA Loophole Permits Warrantless Invasion of Americans’ Privacy

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 9, 2013 Top secret documents passed to The Guardian by Edward Snowden show the National Security Agency has a "secret backdoor" into its databases that allows its agents to search U.S. citizens' email and phone calls without a warrant or other oversight. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Security Threat Clears U.S. Diplomatic Staff From Lahore

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 9, 2013 The U.S. all but shut down its diplomatic office in Lahore, Pakistan, ordering nonessential staff to move to the capital Islamabad while citing a specific threat amid soaring terrorist violence in the country. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Obama Gives Russia the Hand

Staff / Truthdig Aug 9, 2013 This week on Truthdig Radio in association with KPFK: Nato Green, Ninotchka Rosca, Phil Yu, Leilani Albano, Laura Carlsen, Bill Boyarsky, and Robert Scheer on racism three ways, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Bradley Manning and Obama's change of heart. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

A Little Bit of Everything

Staff / Truthdig Aug 9, 2013 This week on Truthdig Radio in association with KPFK: Nato Green, Ninotchka Rosca, Phil Yu, Leilani Albano, Laura Carlsen, Bill Boyarsky, and Robert Scheer on racism three ways, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Bradley Manning and Obama's change of heart. Dig deeper

American Drones Kill a Dozen in Yemen

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 9, 2013 U.S. drones killed 12 people in Yemen who the government claims are al-Qaida suspects. Thursday's action was the eighth such attack in less than two weeks amid warnings of terrorist assaults on Western outposts. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘How the Mass Killing of Egyptian Islamists Is Being Justified in America’

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 9, 2013 Supporters of Egypt's recent military coup from America's left and right are performing "intellectual contortions" to justify "the mass killings of Islamists in the name of democracy," Ken Silverstein writes at Harper's Magazine. And "[t]he common denominator is that the killers were seen as pro-Western." Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Tens of Thousands of Tunisians Protest

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 9, 2013 Tens of thousands of Tunisians poured into the streets of Tunis on Wednesday to demand the resignation of the Islamist-led government after the assassination of a prominent opposition politician. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bashar al-Assad Evades Rebel Attack

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 9, 2013 The Syrian president escaped death or injury when rebels launched a mortar attack on his convoy early Thursday. The incident suggests "the country's crippling civil war is edging [its way] to its seat of power," The Guardian reports. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

I Only Regret That I Have But One Life to Give for My Country: Yours

By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch Aug 8, 2013 Washington is now spy central. It surveils not just potential future enemies, but also its closest allies as if they were enemies. Increasingly, the structure built to do a significant part of that spying is aimed at Americans, too, and on a scale that is no less breathtaking.Increasingly, the structure built by Washington to do a significant part of its spying is aimed at Americans, and on a scale that is breathtaking. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )