Obama Picks Top Spies

Staff / Truthdig Jan 6, 2009 The president-elect has reportedly chosen Leon Panetta to head the CIA and retired Adm. Dennis Blair as director of national intelligence. Both men bring a mixed bag. Panetta is an experienced bureaucrat, but he's no James Bond. Blair has been praised for his terrorist-fighting skills, but he was criticized for a supposed conflict of interest that benefited defense contractors. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Sweeping Blackwater Under the Rug

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Dec 9, 2008 The federal manslaughter indictment of five Blackwater Worldwide security guards for the horrific massacre of more than a dozen Iraqi civilians in Baghdad may look like an exercise in accountability, but it's probably the exact opposite. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Blackwater Guards Indicted for Shootings

Staff / Truthdig Dec 9, 2008 Five Blackwater guards were indicted on charges of manslaughter on Monday in a case that will test the legal accountability of private contractors in Iraq. A sixth guard pleaded guilty. The Blackwater employees killed 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians without justification at a Baghdad traffic circle, the Justice Department alleges. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Can You Hear Me Now? Telecoms Paid to Give Team McCain More Bars

Staff / Truthdig Oct 16, 2008 It's hard to get cell reception in an out-of-the-way place like Sedona, Ariz., but it helps if you sit on the Senate committee that oversees the telecommunications industry. The Washington Post has learned that AT&T and Verizon, both of which have lobbying ties to the McCain campaign, provided cell towers for the McCains' ranch at no charge to the couple. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Immunity Issue Snags U.S.-Iraq Agreement

Staff / Truthdig Sep 19, 2008 We tearfully regret to inform you that an agreement that would legally extend the US imperial occupation of Iraq is at risk of falling apart, as Iraqi officials continue to make the audacious demand that U soldiers and mercenaries be subject to Iraqi law for crimes committed outside the scope of military operations. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Private Contracting Games

Mark Fiore / Truthdig Aug 25, 2008 Dig deeper

The U.S. Role in Mexico’s Drug War

Staff / Truthdig Jul 30, 2008 Washington's role in Mexico's drug war, from the $400 million in annual military aid to the U.S. security contractors teaching torture techniques to Mexican police, is often ill-reported in the mainstream media. Canadian journalist Avi Lewis and the "Inside USA" television crew look critically into the conflict that has killed 1,800 people so far this year alone. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Private Contractors ‘Mismanaged’ $23 Billion in Iraq

Staff / Truthdig Jun 11, 2008 A BBC investigation on U.S. war profiteering estimates that $23 billion of taxpayer funds has been "lost, stolen, or not properly accounted for in Iraq." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Nicholas von Hoffman on ‘The Big Squeeze’

Nicholas von Hoffman / Truthdig Jun 6, 2008 A new book by New York Times reporter Steven Greenhouse argues that the plight of American workers, both white-collar and blue-collar, is growing worse, putting the American dream out of the reach of tens of millions of citizens. Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

The Unsung Victims of the Emerald City

Sarah Stillman / Truthdig May 29, 2008 There's a group of contractors working in Baghdad's Green Zone that we don't often hear about: The cleaners, cooks and construction workers from places like Uganda who toil and die in obscurity. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

Defense Auditors Can’t Keep Up

Staff / Truthdig May 28, 2008 Thanks to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the privatization of the military and the surge in defense spending since 9/11, individual Pentagon auditors now have to keep track of more than three times as much money as they did 10 years ago. Because of limited resources, the Defense Department inspector general revealed in a recent report, about half of the military's $316 billion weapons budget went under the radar last year. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Warning Fails to Prevent Electrocution of U.S. Soldiers

Staff / Truthdig May 9, 2008 More than a dozen American soldiers have died or received severe electrical shocks in Iraq, reportedly as a result of faulty electrical work often done by ill-trained Iraqis and Afghans under the supervision of Houston-based contractor KBR. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )