washingtonpost.com - Military News

Mexican data contradict U.S. figures on military's human rights abuses

William Booth and Steve Fainaru — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

MEXICO CITY -- The Mexican military has convicted just one soldier of a serious human rights violation during a bloody, three-year campaign against drug traffickers, according to Interior Ministry figures that are significantly lower than those reported by the U.S. government.

U.S., Mexico align against common foe: brutal narcotics trade

William Booth and Steve Fainaru — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

MEXICO CITY -- To avenge the arrest of their leader, Mexican drug cartel commandos went on a rampage this summer across the lawless state of Michoacan, seizing 12 Mexican police officers and dumping their bound and stripped corpses in a pile beside a busy highway.

In Fort Hood aftermath, Pentagon opens two reviews

Ann Scott Tyson and Ben Pershing — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

The Pentagon is launching an urgent review of whether military procedures hinder the identification of service members who pose a threat to their fellow troops.

U.S., Japan remain at odds over Marine air station on Okinawa

Blaine Harden — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

TOKYO -- The wrestling match between the United States and Japan over the location of the U.S. Marine air station in Okinawa is far from over -- despite President Obama's chummy visit here with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

Kuwait-based military contractor accused of inflating food prices

Walter Pincus — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

A major Kuwait-based military contractor was indicted Monday for allegedly defrauding the U.S. government by submitting inflated bills and false claims under contracts through which it has supplied $8.5 billion in food and other products to the American military in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan over the past six years.

Cleric says he was confidant to Hasan

Sudarsan Raghavan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

SANAA, YEMEN -- In his first interview with a journalist since the Fort Hood rampage, Yemeni American cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi said that he neither ordered nor pressured Maj. Nidal M. Hasan to harm Americans, but that he considered himself a confidant of the Army psychiatrist who was given a glimpse via e-mail into Hasan's growing discomfort with the U.S. military.

U.S. gives tour of new Afghan detention center

Joshua Partlow — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AFGHANISTAN -- By the end of the month, the U.S. military plans to begin moving the first of its approximately 700 detainees at Bagram air field to a new $60 million holding complex in an attempt to provide better living conditions and separate committed fighters from those who are ready to re-enter Afghan society.

Ernesto Londono -- Iraqi city Samarra reflects successes, shortfalls in Iraq

Ernesto LondoÃ±o — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Samarra, Iraq -- The Shiite pilgrims arrive in crowded buses and are dropped off just outside the shrine's gate. They walk down a narrow path patrolled by security guards and lined with tall cement walls to pray at the al-Askari mosque, the resting place of two of the most revered figures in Shiite Islam.

Alleged Sept. 11 planner will be tried in New York

Peter Finn and Carrie Johnson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and four co-conspirators will be tried in Manhattan federal courthouse less than a mile from Ground Zero, the Justice Department announced Friday, the most concrete demonstration yet of the Obama administration's desire to reassert the primacy of the criminal justice system in responding to terrorist acts.

Obama: Decision 'soon' on troops for Afghanistan

Anne E. Kornblut, Blaine Harden and William Branigin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:28:58 EST

TOKYO -- President Obama pledged Friday that he would make a decision "soon" on U.S. military options in Afghanistan and suggested that critics of his deliberate approach do not understand what is happening in the war-ravaged country.

Weak allies limit Obama's options

Karen DeYoung and Joshua Partlow — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

In the final stages of its deliberations over a new war strategy, the administration's attention has shifted to the two governments whose cooperation and competence are considered essential to success -- Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Museums

Post — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

U.S. envoy resists troop increase, cites Karzai as problem

Greg Jaffe, Scott Wilson and Karen DeYoung — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

The U.S. ambassador in Kabul sent two classified cables to Washington in the past week expressing deep concerns about sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan until President Hamid Karzai's government demonstrates that it is willing to tackle the corruption and mismanagement that has fueled the Taliban's rise, senior U.S. officials said.

U.S. envoy resists troop increase, cites Karzai as problem

Greg Jaffe, Scott Wilson and Karen DeYoung — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

World digest: Body of missing U.S. soldier found in Afghan river

Post — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

AFGHANISTAN

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At Arlington, Obama pays tribute to veterans

William Branigin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:22:00 EST

President Obama, marking Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery, paid tribute Wednesday to generations of American service members and pledged to "keep the promises that we've made" to all who have worn the nation's uniform.

Missing U.S. soldier's body found in Afghan river

Joshua Partlow — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:53:55 EST

KABUL -- A U.S. military dive team has discovered the submerged body of one of two American soldiers who went missing last week in a river in western Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, Taliban leaving al-Qaeda behind

Joshua Partlow — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

KABUL -- As violence rises in Afghanistan, the power balance between insurgent groups has shifted, with a weakened al-Qaeda relying increasingly on the emboldened Taliban for protection and the manpower to carry out deadly attacks, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials.

U.S. military expands efforts to track satellites

Andrea Shalal-Esa — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

The U.S. military said last week that it is tracking 800 maneuverable satellites on a daily basis for possible collisions and expects to add 500 more non-maneuvering satellites by year's end.