let your mind be free
daily dos
fri 11/6/2009
Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a 39-year-old Army psychiatrist who was about to be deployed to Afghanistan, killed 13 soldiers and injured 31 others in Fort Hood, Texas before being shot and killed by police.
kick that beat
daily dos
mon 11/2/2009
A deployment of 40,000 additional troops to Afghanistan could add an additional $20 billion a year to the war.
off the wagon
daily dos
wed 10/28/2009
The deaths of eight U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan yesterday raised the death toll of U.S. troops in October to 55, the deadliest month for American soldiers since the war began in 2001.
click click boom
daily dos
tue 10/6/2009
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the military will support President Obama's decision to increase troops in Afghanistan: "We will salute and execute those decisions faithfully and to the best of our ability."
point, set, match
daily dos
tue 9/22/2009
General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, is echoing U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen's assertion that the U.S military will need more troops to win the war in Afghanistan.
gritando
daily dos
wed 9/16/2009
A high-ranking U.S. military official told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the military needs "more resources" and "probably" more troops to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan.
meat and greet
daily dos
wed 8/26/2009
The recent deaths of four American soldiers in Afghanistan have made 2009 the deadliest year for foreign forces in Afghanistan since 2001. Over 1,300 troops have died in Afghanistan since the U.S. began its offensive against the Taliban.
shooting from the hip
daily dos
tue 8/18/2009
Women at Arms: In Their Own Words, an audio slideshow featuring the stories of American female soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
soft and fluffy
daily dos
tue 8/11/2009
If you know someone in the armed forces, they might be going back to Afghanistan.
The War in México: The Good Guys
crime
tue 3/10/2009
The United States of America shares a 2,000 mile border with Mexico. One in 10 residents of the U.S. are of Mexican origin. Last year, the two nations did nearly $350 billion dollars in trade. What would happen if México were to fall into a civil war? What if it already has?
Part 2: The Good Guys
For many police in México, there are two career paths: work for drug cartels or live under the constant threat of death from drug cartels.
Mauro Enrique Tello Quiñonez made the wrong choice. Last month, the retired Army general began working as a high-ranking anti-drug official near Cancún, in the southern state of Quintana Roo. He was killed on his first day on the job. The suspect? Cancún's police chief, Francisco Velasco, who was arrested along with five other officers for orchestrating the murder.
For years, drug cartels have won over local police with deep pockets and heavy firepower. Last year, federal officials twice confiscated the firearms of the Tijuana police department. In many parts of Mexico, anti-trafficking operations are now run entirely by the federally controlled military and police. International and Mexican experts agree that Mexican police are more susceptible to corruption because they are under-trained and under-paid.
Tijuana Secretary of Public Security Luis Javier Algorri: "Local police aren't designed to combat organized crime. Officers are easily found at home, it's easy to see what shifts they work. They can be threatened or bribed."
But local cops aren't the only ones being paid off. Late last year, Mexico's former drug czar – the man in charge of the country's anti-drug operations – was arrested for accepting $450,000 in bribes from the Sinaloa cartel. With both local and federal law enforcement compromised and a worsening cycle of deadly attacks and counter-attacks, many are now asking if México could soon collapse into a civil war.
Political analyst José Antonio Crespo: "The army used to be seen as the government's great deterrent. But now what is the big stick that can be used against the cartels?"
Next: The Cartels
"RiCkY" Says:
