task force 373

Khmer Rouge chief executioner 'Duch' was found guilty today by a UN-backed court. He could be out of prison in 19 years, even when many Cambodians say he deserved life in prison for his role in the Pol Pot regime.

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Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, who ran the notorious Toul Sleng detention center for the worst "enemies" of the state, looks on during his sentencing at the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday. The U.N.-backed tribunal has found the former Khmer Rouge chief jailer guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

AP Photo/ Extraordinary Chambers in tAs the founder of Wikileaks claims there is "prima-facie" evidence of "war crimes" within secret Afghan documents written by US military forces, Channel 4 News analyses claims Task Force 373 appeared to botch attempts to kill al-Qaida operatives.

The founder of Wikileaks Julian Assange told journalists that there is "prima-facie evidence" of war crimes in the 90,000 leaked documents from US military field reports in Afghanistan between 2004 and 2009.

Assange said: "I can only speak about this issue in general, however it is up to a court to decide, clearly whether something is in the end a 'crime'.

"That said prima facie, there does appear to be evidence of war crimes in this material.

"The example is the Task Force 373 Himars missile strike on a house which killed seven children."

TF 373 - The Taliban hunters
The US Special Forces unit tasked with carrying out assassinations is called Task Force 373.he Courts of Cambodia

khmer rouge

Khmer Rouge chief executioner 'Duch' was found guilty today by a UN-backed court. He could be out of prison in 19 years, even when many Cambodians say he deserved life in prison for his role in the Pol Pot regime.

*

Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, who ran the notorious Toul Sleng detention center for the worst "enemies" of the state, looks on during his sentencing at the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday. The U.N.-backed tribunal has found the former Khmer Rouge chief jailer guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

AP Photo/ Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

mcps

Mcps, Ranking vs. MCPS School District 24 in Maryland on the percentage of achievement of competence with the 2010 MSA results just published.

Mathematics
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3rd grade – 11 of 24
Fourth grade – 17 of 24
Fifth grade – 12 of 24
6th grade – 13 of 24
Grade 7 – 11 of 24
Eighth grade – 11 of 24

wikileaks

In the wake of the release of 91,000 classified U.S. military records painting a dour portrait of the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. government and military are trying to put the spotlight squarely on WikiLeaks, the organization that leaked the documents.

Wikileaks, officials complained, is an antiwar group with an agenda. Founder Julian Assange, the White House pointed out to reporters, says things like "the most dangerous men are those who are in charge of war." The noted that his group did not contact the U.S. government to verify what is in the documents. (Though the New York Times and to a lesser extent the other news organizations given access to the documents one month ago did do so.) National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones said the U.S. "strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organizations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk, and threaten our national security."

Wikileaks is certainly an important part of the story - and is without question an organization with an agenda. (Just consider the fact that the group named an explosive video it previously leaked showing the actions of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter in Baghdad "Collateral Murder.") But that fact does not change that the military records appear to be legitimate raw intelligence. While not everything in them is necessarily completely true - the sources include paid informants and Afghan intelligence officials with their own agenda - they do reflect what is being seen and heard by those actually fighting the war.

Assange said Monday morning that the U.S. government has decided to "criticize the messenger to detract from the power of the message." It has good reason to do so. It's a crucial moment for the war in Afghanistan, exactly one year before U.S. troops are supposed to start coming home. Yet instead of a positive portrait of the war effort, the American people are being shown in unprecedented detail just how hobbled coalition efforts been by questionable allies, conflicting allegiances, and a pervasive culture of corruption and violence.

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks.org, speaks to reporters, July 26, 2010.
(Credit: CBS)

The Afghan police are described beating and harassing civilians; according to one report, when his bodyguard refuses to shoot a civilian, a police chief shoots the bodyguard instead. An orphanage that opened with great fanfare is shown to be empty, the coalition's money embezzled; the police and Army are described feuding with each other, and insurgents are shown attacking U.S. troops using vehicles supplied by the coalition to fight them.

The documents describe the Taliban's efforts to turn U.S. allies into enemies with bribes and threats and the killing of civilians through mistakes and misunderstanding (a deaf person who flees a convoy out of nervousness can't hear warnings and gets shot; five children get killed in a rocket attack that was part of a botched raid against an enemy who isn't present). Also revealed is the wider-than-known use of drones inside Afghanistan and the Taliban's use of heat-seeking missiles against U.S. aircraft, the very type of weapon that the United Sates supplied to the mujahedeen to defeat the Soviets in the 1980s. (CBS News' Lara Logan reported on the latter last year.)

And then there are the suggestions that Pakistani intelligence is helping coordinate attacks on U.S. troops, including suicide bombings - a particularly incendiary accusation in light of the billions of dollars in aid that flow to the country from U.S. coffers. (These reports, it's important to remember, reflect what members of the military are being told by parties with a variety of agendas, who may not be truthful; Pakistan has vehemently denied the allegations.)

The government has been quick to note that these documents only go through December 2009, before President Obama's new strategy was put in place. But the reality today could in fact be worse than it was then; casualties are the highest they've been in nearly nine years of war, the Taliban is stronger than ever, and coalition efforts to create self-sustaining governments are still understaffed and ineffective.

Officials have insisted that most of the information in the documents is old news for those who have been watching the war closely. But while that, to some extent, is true, it doesn't much matter: The documents shift discussion to the harsh realities of the war at a time that military and administration officials had once hoped Americans would be celebrating U.S. momentum against the Taliban.

Public and Congressional support for the nearly nine-year-old war was already wavering before the release, and for some the documents could be the last straw. The Obama administration will likely remain resolute, stick to its carefully-crafted strategy, and remind people that pulling out could mean a return to the environment that set the stage for the Sept. 11th attacks. But cracks are already beginning to show: Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said after the release that "however illegally these documents came to light, they raise serious questions about the reality of America's policy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan."

The White House gave itself some flexibility when it announced that it would begin bringing troops home in July of next year - President Obama was notably vague about how many troops will be leaving and insisted that plans could change based on conditions on the ground. The WikiLeaks documents are a demoralizing reminder that those conditions are not good; the question now is how the administration and Congress will respond to what will likely be further erosion of support for the war effort at home and abroad.

julian assange

In early June, an exceptionally well-timed New Yorker piece profiled Julian Assange, the enigmatic and nomadic 39-year-old mastermind of Wikileaks, whose coordinated release of 92,000 classified documents to three newspapers has re-energized debate over the direction of the U.S.-led military effort in Afghanistan. The Australian Assange, a prodigal computer hacker, was once known by the nom-de-plume “Mendax.” In the late 80s, Mendax was the founding member of a group of hackers who called themselves the International Subversives. His activities with the International Subversives eventually attracted the attention of law enforcement authorities, and Assange was arrested in the early 90s after hacking into the computer system at a major Canadian telecommunications company. A court eventually ruled that his intentions were benign, and he avoided a prison sentence of up to ten years. After working toward a physics degrees at the University of Melbourne, he founded Wikileaks in 2006. “Our primary targets are those highly oppressive regimes in China, Russia and Central Eurasia, but we also expect to be of assistance to those in the West who wish to reveal illegal or immoral behavior in their own governments and corporations,” he wrote in a note to potential whistleblowers at the time of the site’s launch.

In response to the most recent document blitz, the White House issued a statement to journalists and news organizations in which it reminded them of Wikileaks’ activist agenda. “As you report on this issue, it’s worth noting that wikileaks is not an objective news outlet but rather an organization that opposes US policy in Afghanistan,” a memo cautioned. Assange is the first to corroborate this characterization. “Assange, despite his claims to scientific journalism, emphasized to me that his mission is to expose injustice, not to provide an even-handed record of events,” The New Yorker’s Raffi Khatchadourian wrote. In an interview with Der Spiegel, Assange said that his goal in releasing the Afghan war logs was to call attention to “the everyday brutality and squalor of war. The archive will change public opinion and it will change the opinion of people in positions of political and diplomatic influence.” In a press conference in London this morning, a cagey Assange stood in front of his Macbook and responded to questions about his intentions and concerns. “I’m often asked this: what is the most single damning revelation?” he said. “But that is not the real story with this material. The real story with this material is that it’s war. It’s one damn thing after another.” It’s a sentiment that’s likely echoed by President Obama, although perhaps with varied connotations.

Analyst forum

Hard to believe it’s been just over one year already that I launched my first internet radio show, Conservative Republican Forum on BlogTalkRadio. It seems like yesterday I invited my friend and co-host Daria DiGiovanni, author of Water Signs: A Story of Love and Renewal to join me in this excellent adventure.

As I reflected on the experience, I first took note of the fun we’ve had interviewing candidates for public office – mostly for the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate – giving our audience the opportunity to get to know them and their positions on the issues. We continue to offer many grassroots candidates who might otherwise be ignored by the media, a forum from which to reach out and connect with potential voters and contributors.

Then I began to reminisce about the many notable people we’ve had the honor and pleasure to interview and – in some cases – meet in person. Our first big name guest was Florida U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio, who we interview for the first time in June of 2009 – long before most pundits even considered him a contender for the seat. At last January’s Freedom Forum in Miami, site of our first and only on-location broadcast, we interviewed Rubio for the second time.

Two weeks later, we had the opportunity to interview author, columnist and regular ‘Red Eye’ guest, S.E. Cupp. At the time, she was busy promoting her book Why You’re Wrong About the Right. And that was when our show really started to develop a following.

Since then, we’ve spoken with such well known personalities as Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter; former CIA operative Mike Baker (who has become a true friend of the show); Kellen Giuda – a founding member of the NYC Tea Party and co-founder of Parcbench.com; comedienne Ellen Karis (who has become a personal friend); wildly popular congressional candidate Lt. Col. Allen West; Greg Gutfeld, Andy Levy and Bill Schulz of Fox News Channel’s hit show Red Eye; author and Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin; former Fox News Senior Military Analyst Major General Paul E. Vallely (U.S. Army retired); current Fox News Military Analyst Lt. General Thomas McInerney (U.S.A.F. retired); Michigan Congresswoman Michele Bachmann; and Iowa Congressman Steve King.

The fact that all of these influential Americans took time out of their busy schedules to talk with us and our audience is a testimony their generosity and character. I’ve had the distinct pleasure of meeting some of them in person and each was just as nice face-to-face as on the air. In particular, General Vallely, S.E. Cupp and Ellen Karis spent a great deal of time with my friends and me when we had the opportunity to hang out with them.

In 2010 we initiated our “Grassroots Candidates Series”, expanding our format from one-hour to an hour-and-a-half. This series has allowed us to feature several congressional and senatorial candidates – from Hawaii to Massachusetts – in what we consider to be a public service to the nation in this crucial mid-term election year.

When we started the show, I never could have expected that so many high-profile people would willingly agree to appear on our little Internet radio show; I certainly never dreamed I’d have the opportunity to not only spend time with any of them off the air, but to actually call them friends.

I also want to thank my friend and co-host Daria for taking time out of her life each week to ride shotgun with me on the air. Her support and encouragement have made the show enjoyable, and to be perfectly frank, she’s also saved my bacon from time-to-time, particularly when we’ve experienced the always-unavoidable technical difficulties or had a missing-in-action guest who failed to call-in.

Looking back on this first-year anniversary, both Daria and I sincerely hope our guests have enjoyed being on the show as much as we’ve enjoyed hosting them. As for our audience, we cannot thank them enough for tuning in each week, and we hope they continually find something of value. With their continued support, it is our fondest wish to remain on the air for a long time to come.

Dez bryant

As NFL training camps kick off across the country plenty of guys will looking forward to breaking out the lunch pail, shaking off the rust, and getting back to work.

As they pull up to the facilty that first day, they may notice something a little odd outside. A tall, athletic looking man, holding a sign that reads, "Will work for a opportunity of shameless self-promotion" and as they pass by he will flip the sign over allowing them to see the back which reads, "Come on! Jesus loves me and you will too!"

This man of course is the unemployed 36-year-old wide receiver Terrell Owens . As teams begin to scramble around, trying to fill in their roster spots, Terrell wants to make sure they all know he's ready to give up washing windshields at that stop light downtown and wants to go to work.

Over the weekend the speculation was that T.O.
s most likely landing spot was in St. Louis, along side rookie quarterback Sam Bradford, but is that really a good idea? Is it really a good idea to ask a first year guy to take on the task of pacifying the most high maintenance player in the past decade?

I have the feeling this is would play out like the guy whose first girl friend came at the age of 20 and who instantly became said girl's whipping boy for the duration of the relationship. You've seen that guy. Suddenly he's spending every weekend at the mall carrying shopping bags, trading in all his xbox games for cash so he can buy a $50 pair of jeans his girl recommended, and he is forever taking care of some extremely ugly, yet equally expensive small animal. (which is always sick for some reason.) That guy either ends up snapping or just ends up quietly miserable and living an awful life. Either way he's messed up.

Yeah, if Tony, Donovan, and Jeff couldn't maintain this relationship, if those guys couldn't balance the drama queen, I'm finding it hard to believe Bradford will have much success with it. Granted this could be the baptism by fire that a young guy needs, but it seems more likely it could be a disaster taking him years to recover from.

Thought #2

Typically when you see that little voice mail light blinking on your phone, its a pretty exciting moment. I mean, sure it could just be your grandma, but it could also be something absolutely awesome, so you cant wait to check it.

Now that was probably what Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher was thinking when he say he had a missed called and new voice mail over the weekend. Unfortunately things didn't pan out that way for Jeff.

The message he received was from USC head coach Lane Kiffin and went something like this, "Hey Jeff, It's Lane. How's it going? Been getting out on the lake much? Well hate that I missed you, hope your summer goes well, oh and by the way I just stole your running backs coach and made him my new offensive coordinator. Later." and click.

That was the way Lane decided to break the news to Jeff that he just hired Kennedy Pola away from the Titan's staff. I'm not sure if Lane is a jerk or just stupid, but is that really the type of thing you want left on the machine? I mean was calling back later, or even asking Jeff to call him not an option?

Or was this one of those situations where you feel really relieved to just get the machine because you know the person is going to be pissed. Is this like breaking up with a girl via text message because you know shes going to go psycho on you, which is why you were breaking up with her in the first place so she just proved you correct. (why do girls never understand this. you can't argue that you are not crazy, it just makes you seem more crazy.)

No matter the reason, Jeff wasn't happy with the way things went down and it's doubtful this will help Lane at all with his already less than stellar reputation.

Thought #3

Every freshman in high school knows there is a hazing process. Every freshman knows he will most likely be told to dump some lunch trays, do some push ups, or if worst comes to worst, make of fool of himself by asking the hottest girl out in school in a song. It happens, you do it, and you get over it. The only time it generally gets really bad, is when some freshman decides to fight it. That's where the stories of duct tape and icy hot are born and that's when things go from forgettable to legends that live on decades later.

"Do you remember when that one guy put icy hot in that one kids jock strap?" Yeah, you know those stories.

Dez Bryant may have just secured his spot as the victim in one of those legendary tales as yesterday he refused to carry Roy Williams pads following practice. Ot-uh. You might has well of just put a target on your back buddy.

Now I'm not saying there is any rule that Dez had to carry those pads, but I am saying if he just carries those pads, it's over, done with, and he can go about his day. Now there's a good chance he's going to wake up one morning during camp, taped to his bed, which will dangling from the trees outside the dorm. I just hope it isn't parents' day.

Thought #4

Is it possible to get suspended for just being awful? Yes!

IRL driver Milka Duno has been banned from racing for a year until her driving improves. Twice this season she has been pulled off the track because she was going to slow the officials felt like she was a hazard.

Now why would a team keep dropping the coin on a driver going that slow, aside from fans being about to read the teams logo and sponsors very clearly as she creeped by? It's pretty simple, she's a lady.

Racing at all levels seems to be determined to fine that first competitive female driver, even if it means putting unqualified drivers in cars. Lets be honest, if a female does finally take off the marketing potential for that driver and team will be limitless. Heck, Danica Patrick makes bank and finishes on average, what, 30th?

Hats off to IRL for choosing safety over marketing schemes and Go Daddy commercials.