American forces have experienced their deadliest month in the nine-year-old Afghan war, with 63 US service members killed in July.

June’s record of 60 was surpassed after it was confirmed three soldiers killed in the south of the country on Thursday were Americans.

Meanwhile, hundreds of UK and Afghan troops launched a major offensive against the Taliban in Helmand.

Casualties have risen as the war escalates against a resurgent Taliban.

Read more ….

July is deadliest month of Afghan war for US — Yahoo News/AP
July becomes deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan — CNN
Bombs ‘kill three foreign troops’ in Afghanistan — AFP
Insurgents kill 13 civilians — CNN
Afghans riot after deadly NATO crash — 9News
British troops launch biggest offensive of summer in Afghanistan — The Telegraph
Forces launch fresh Taliban attack — Press Association
UK troops launch Operation Tor Shezada in Afghanistan — BBC
‘Successful’ start to fresh assault on Taliban — The Independent

Obama Meets with Advisers on Afghanistan, Pakistan — Voice of America
Obama Signs $60 Billion Afghanistan War Bill to Pay for Increase in Troops — Bloomberg
Obama signs Afghanistan war spending measure — AFP
Afghan war spending faces new scrutiny — Washington Post

Taliban stymie NATO push to bolster government — AP
Taliban Exploit Openings in Neglected Province — New York Times
Afghanistan’s Green Zone — New York Times
Hearts and mind hard to reach in Afghan valley — Reuters
In U.S. Midterm Elections, Afghan War Barely Surfaces — New York Times
War council devotes little time to WikiLeaks — USA Today
Biden says no plans to nation-build in Afghanistan — Reuters
Biden: Pakistan spy agency ‘changing’ on Afghanistan — AFP
Biden: US doing ‘significant damage’ to al-Qaida — AP
Portrait of an occupied country — Al Jazeera
US military deaths in Afghan region at 1,122 — AP

Afghanistan War News Updates — July 30, 2010 is a post from: Updated News

The cache of classified U.S. military reports on the Iraq War as yet unreleased by WikiLeaks may be more than three times as large as the set of roughly 76,000 similar reports on the war in Afghanistan made public by the whistle-blower Web site earlier this week, Declassified has learned.

Three sources familiar with the Iraq material in WikiLeaks hands, requesting anonymity to discuss what they described as highly sensitive information, say it’s similar to this week’s Afghanistan material, consisting largely of field reports from U.S. military personnel and classified no higher than the “secret” level. According to one of the sources, the Iraq material portrays U.S. forces being involved in a “bloodbath,” but some of the most disturbing material relates to the abusive treatment of detainees not by Americans but by Iraqi security forces, the source says.

Read more ….

The War Logs — New York Times
The War Logs – The Guardian
The Afghanistan Protocol — Spiegel Online
Afghan War Diary, 2004-2010 — WikiLeaks

Obama: Leaked Afghan War Documents Reveal Nothing New — Voice of America
Obama: Issues in Leaked Documents Led to Review — U.S. Department of Defense
Obama insists WikiLeaks didn’t reveal anything that wasn’t already known — The Hill

WikiLeaks: We don’t know source of leaked data — AP
Pentagon begins full criminal probe of leaks — Forbes/AP
Pentagon: “Very Robust” Probe of WikiLeak Source — CBS
US att’y general: Probe seeking Afghan leak source — AP
Attorney General Holder Says U.S. Probing Leaks of Afghanistan Documents — Bloomberg
Army Officer charged in earlier leak had access to latest WikiLeak papers — L.A. Times
Pentagon focuses on ‘main suspect’ in Afghanistan leak — CNN
Army expands probe into soldier suspected of earlier leak — CNN

On Wikileaks & the Pakistan memos — Long War Journal
WikiLeaks fallout: US, UK, India criticize Pakistan as terror haven — Christian Science Monitor
The New Republic: WikiLeaks And Pakistani Loyalties — NPR

Security Controls At Their Worst? — Next Gov
Afghan war documents point to overuse of government secrecy — L.A. Times
WikiLeaks: Why classify mundane data? — Christian Science Monitor
Hypnotic illusions at the Wikileaks Show — The Register
WikiLeaks Organization Sparks Controversy — Voice of America
Does my leak look big in this? — Kings Of War
Wikileaks and the Afghanistan War Diary — Captain’s Journal
WikiLeaks, the MSM and national security — Howard Kurtz, Washington Post

Wikileaks News Updates — July 28, 2010 is a post from: Updated News

Federal investigators have identified about 20 Pentagon employees and contractors who allegedly bought and downloaded online child pornography and in some cases used their government-issued computers to view the illegal material.

On Friday, the Defense Department’s inspector general’s office released a 94-page report that says some of those involved possessed top-secret security clearances and worked for such divisions as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Security Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office. Those agencies deal with some of the government’s most sensitive intelligence and defense work.

Read more ….

Pentagon workers tied to child porn — Boston.com
Reports Detail Pornography Investigation — New York Times/AP
Pentagon, Spy Child Porn Viewers Called Idiots — CBS News
Pentagon Workers Linked to Child Pornography — Voice of America
Pentagon workers found to have downloaded child pornography — The Guardian
Defense officials investigated for child porn — CNN
Investigator’s Report Shows Dozens of Defense Employees Picked Up in Child Porn Sting — FOX News
Report: NSA, Pentagon officials linked to child porn — CNET News
Defense, Spy Officials Linked to Child Porn — CBS News
Some Pentagon employees found with child porn still working: report — The Raw Story

Investigation Ties Numerous U.S. Defense Employees To Child Porn is a post from: Updated News

Soldiers believed to have been attacked while driving through Logar province in eastern Afghanistan.

A massive air and ground search is under way for two missing US soldiers the Taliban claim to have captured after a battle with the insurgents in eastern Afghanistan.

The US military has offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the safe release of the men, who are thought to have been seized in the province of Logar, south of Kabul.

Read more ….

Taliban says it captured 2 U.S. service members in Afghanistan — Washington Post
Taliban May Have Captured Two U.S. Service Members Missing in Afghanistan — Bloomberg
Search under way for US soldiers — Al Jazeera
NATO Searching for Missing US Troops in Afghanistan — Voice of America
Taliban capture two US soldiers in Afghanistan — Gulf Daily News
Two US servicemen seized by Afghan Taliban – reports — BBC
U.S. confirms two missing in Afghanistan — UPI
NATO forces confirm 2 foreign soldiers go missing in Afghanistan – Xinhuanet

Two U.S. Soldiers Missing In Afghanistan, Feared Captured Or Killed By The Taliban is a post from: Updated News

Israel is bracing for another attempt to break its blockade on the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip.

Israel has appealed to the United Nations to prevent two ships in Lebanon from sailing to Gaza, in defiance of the Israeli blockade. In a letter to the U.N. secretary-general and the Security Council, Israel accused organizers of trying “to incite a confrontation and raise tensions” in the Middle East. The letter called on the Lebanese government “to demonstrate responsibility” and stop the ships from departing.

Read more ….

Israel deploys navy to stop Gaza aid ships — Herald Sun
Israel will not let ships sail from Lebanon to Gaza — AFP
Israel Urges Lebanon to Block Ships for Gaza — New York Times/AP
Aid ships from Lebanon won’t reach Gaza: Israel — Reuters
Israel to Return Three Turkish Ships From Gaza Flotilla, Davutoglu Says — Bloomberg
Israel Will Return Seized Gaza Aid Ships to Turkey — Voice of America
UN Appoints Gaza Aid Flotilla Attack Probe Team — RTT
UN appoints experts to probe Israel flotilla raid — AFP
UN rights body names team to probe Israeli raid on Gaza aid flotilla — Haaretz

Israel Warning That They Will Block All Future Aid Ships To Gaza is a post from: Updated News

Government Accounting Office says U.S. must do more to combat armed smuggling groups.

Along the newly fenced Mexican border, dangerous and heavily armed groups are increasingly smuggling people as well as dope — and U.S. border investigators must dedicate more time to dismantle their organizations, according to a Government Accounting Office report released to Congress Thursday.

Read more ….

July Could Be Deadliest Month in 10 Years on Arizona-Mexico Border — Latin American Herald Tribune
Arizona Official Outlines Key to Stopping Human Smuggling — Voice of America
Storm clouds gathering along U.S.-Mexico border — The Hill
Mexico’s “murder city” (Ciudad Juarez, south of El Paso) out of control, says author – Reuters
Mexican official charged with aiding drug dealing — Houston Chronicle
Mexican official charged with aiding drug dealing — AP
Mexican cop who helped U.S. among 43 accused of working for drug cartel — USA Today
State Department Restricts Diplomat Travel in Mexico, Warns U.S. Citizens — FOX News
State Department renews travel warning to Mexico — CNN
Experts Say US and Mexico Must Work Together to Battle Mexican Drug Cartels — Voice of America
GAO: US counternarcotics aid to Mexico needs better oversight — The Monitor

The Growing Crime Wave On The U.S.-Mexico Border is a post from: Updated News

TEHRAN — Just weeks after the United States and the United Nations imposed new rounds of sanctions on Iran, Tehran’s ability to ship vital goods has been significantly curtailed as some of the world’s most powerful Western insurance companies cut off Iranian shippers out of fear that they could run afoul of U.S. laws, the insurers say.

The new measures pose a serious test for Iran. In particular, the U.S. sanctions, which threaten to penalize foreign companies that sell fuel and other refined petroleum products to Iran, have forced ports and freighting companies across the globe to reevaluate their Iranian business. Dozens of Iranian vessels that transport crude oil, industrial equipment and other goods and supplies in and out of the Islamic Republic have been denied insurance coverage for weeks, insurance company representatives said.

Read more ….

Ship groups tighten contracts after Iran sanctions — Reuters
US watchdog moves to smother Iran trade — AFP
EU Ministers to Approve Tighter Sanctions on Iran — Voice of America
EU ministers to approve tighter sanctions on Iran — Reuters
Iran parliament tells gov’t to respond to sanctions — Reuters
Iran brushes off sanction concerns — UPI
New sanctions have no effect on Iran — Press TV (Iran)
Iran will adapt to new sanctions — Reuters

Are Sanctions Against Iran Having An Impact? is a post from: Updated News

The Washington Post’s Dana Priest and Bill Arkin launched an explosive series this week, “Top Secret America” which examines the intelligence and counterterrorism agencies created in response to the attacks on September 11th.

What Priest and Arkin discovered was a secret world where it’s unclear how much money is being spent, how many people are employed, how many programs exist and how many agencies are doing the same work.

Read more ….

Top Secret America — Washington Post

5 blockbuster revelations from the Washington Post’s intelligence complex exposé — Yahoo News
Post documents growth of intelligence since 9/11 — AP
Report: U.S. intelligence community inefficient, unmanageable — CNN
U.S.Intelligence Has Grown “Beyond Control.” Are You Worried About America’s Safety? — ABC News
9/11 attacks spawned big US government: report — AFP
No State Department secrets revealed by Post series… yet — Foreign Policy
Report: Size of US Intelligence Hurts Effectiveness — Voice of America
US spy agencies growing out of control: report — ABC News (Australia)
Intelligence Failures In ‘Top Secret America’ — NPR (audio)
Search Top Secret America’s Database of Private Spooks — The Danger Room
Secret world outlined by Post includes local firms — Boston.com
The Washington Post Aims High On Monday — New York Times
Washington Post Investigates U.S. Intelligence — New America

Intelcrats’ Awesomely Bad Pushback to ‘Top Secret America’ — The Danger Room
Acting Director Of National Intelligence Criticizes ‘Washington Post’ Investigation — NPR
Spy community strikes back at report United States intelligence community is too big, too expensive — New York Daily News
Washington reacts to ‘Top Secret America’ revelations — Washington Post

The Washington Post Looks at “Top Secret America” — Cato & Liberty
What’s your security clearance? — The Economist
America’s secret army: how the ‘war on terror’ created a new industry — The Guardian
How effective is U.S. intel with 1,300 govt. orgs & 2,000 private companies? — Cafferty File/CNN
The Washington Post Reveals ‘Top Secret America’ — The Atlantic Wire
What Isn’t the Washington Post Telling Us? — Washingtonian.com
Is the intell market out of control? – Washington Technology
Time to Tame the Washington Intelligence Beast — Robert Baer, Time Magazine
Time to Rethink the Implicit Secrecy Bargain — Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic

Fallout From The Washington Post Investigation On America’s Intelligence Community — A News Roundup is a post from: Updated News

Thousands of mourners have thronged the streets of the south-eastern Iranian city of Zahedan as mass funerals were held for victims of the devastating bombings of a mosque.

Police said they had arrested 40 people in connection with Thursday’s blasts, which killed at least 27 people.

Those detained were not accused of direct responsibility for the attacks.

Read more ….

Iran blames West, Israel for bombings — Yahoo News/AFP
Thousands Attend Funerals for Iran Bombing Victims — Voice of America
Iran Mourns Suicide Bombing Victims, Blames The West — Radio Free Europe
Iran attempts to link U.S. to double suicide bombing that killed 28 — Washington Post
Iran arrests 40 over mosque bombings – Xinhuanet
Sunni group claims bombing that killed 26 — The Age
Group claims mosque attack was revenge for leader’s hanging — Toronto Star

Iran Blames The U.S. And Israel For Mosque Bombings is a post from: Updated News

Sudan’s army says it has killed at least 300 rebels in clashes this week, while losing more than 70 of its own troops.

Sudanese state media on Saturday quoted General Al-Tayeb al-Musbah Osman as describing the fighting with the Darfur region’s Justice and Equality Movement.

Read more ….

Sudan says 75 troops, 300 rebels die in Darfur strife — AFP
Sudan army: 300 rebels, 75 troops killed in Darfur — Reuters
Sudan says troops kill hundreds of Darfur rebels — AP
Hundreds of Darfur rebels killed by Sudanese army: commander — Xinhuanet
Hundreds killed in Darfur fighting — Al Jazeera

The War In Darfur Continues is a post from: Updated News