Obama Announces Full Troop Withdrawal from Iraq by Year's End. Confirming reports that emerged last week that the US does not plan to maintain a residual troop presence in Iraq, the US will pull out of Iraq completely by the end of 2011, bringing to a close a bloody chapter in international history that first began in March 20, 2003. With other recent reports that the administration is considering a faster withdrawal from Afghanistan in the aftermath of Osama Bin Laden's death at the hands of US special forces in May of this year, an end to America's longest running military conflict also seems likely to come soon.
posted by saulgoodman on Oct 21, 2011 - 232 comments

Arguing the ceremony is only for the families, newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has forbidden the media from attending today's arrival of the remains of four Canadian soldiers killed in action in Afghanistan. Mr. Harper has also declined to lower the flag on Parliament Hill to half-staff. Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, retired soldier and former lobbyist for various defense contracting firms, says his government is returning to the tradition of honouring dead soldiers on November 11, Remembrance Day. Meanwhile, residents of the northern aboriginal community of Kashechawan, plagued by flooding and drinking water problems, are being evacuated, after government promises to repair a dike went unfulfilled. God Bless Canada.
posted by docgonzo on Apr 25, 2006 - 57 comments

Don't Bomb Us. In response to credible reports that Bush wanted to bomb al-Jazeera's HQ in allied Qatar (discussed here and here on MeFi), Al Jazeera staffers start their own English-language blog. Their site contains remembrances of their fallen colleagues, firsthand accounts of US attacks on their offices, links to relevant reports on the controversy, Flickr photosets of protests calling for an official investigation, and al Jazeera's code of ethics. Also, a quick note to Tony Blair: " P.S. Thanks for talking Mr. Bush out of bombing our offices!" Not surprisingly, their blog is generating some comments.
posted by edverb on Nov 26, 2005 - 117 comments

In 2001 America destroyed the Kabul offices of al-Jazeera with two smartbombs; officials said it was an accident. In 2003 America destroyed the Baghdad offices of al-Jazeera with missiles; officials said it was an accident. Now, two British civil servants are on trial for leaking a memo revealing that Bush intended to bomb al-Jazeera... at their headquarters in allied Qatar.
posted by Pretty_Generic on Nov 22, 2005 - 155 comments

UN investigator who exposed US army abuse forced out of his job.
posted by Pretty_Generic on Apr 24, 2005 - 47 comments

Earthquakes rock Afghanistan... 20,000 are homeless, 4,000 injured, and 5,000 feared dead. The epicenter was about 90 miles north of Kabul.
posted by Kevin Sanders on Mar 26, 2002 - 15 comments