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20080430
• US- Pakistan - Afghanistan - Iraq - Military - Terrorism - Intelligence - "US report says al-Qaida gaining strength." ... "Al-Qaida has rebuilt some of its pre-[September]Sept. 11 capabilities from remote hiding places in Pakistan, leading to a major spike in attacks last year in that country and neighboring Afghanistan, the [Republican President] Bush administration said Wednesday." ... "Attacks in Pakistan more than doubled from 375 to 887 between 2006 and 2007, and the number of fatalities jumped by almost 300 percent from 335 to 1,335, the State Department said in its annual terrorism report." ... "In Afghanistan, the number of attacks rose 16 percent, to 1,127 incidents last year, killing 1,966 people, 55 percent more than the 1,257 who died in 2006, it said." ... "The report said attacks in Iraq dipped slightly between 2006 and 2007, but they still accounted for 60 percent of worldwide terrorism fatalities, including 17 of the 19 Americans who were killed in attacks last year. The other two were killed in Afghanistan." -By Matthew Lee -AP via -SeattleTimes

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• US - Pakistan - Afghanistan - Global - Usama bin Ladin - Military - Terrorism - Intelligence - "Country Reports on Terrorism 2007." ... "Chapter 1 -- Strategic Assessment." ... "AL-QA’IDA AND ASSOCIATED TRENDS: Al-Qa’ida (AQ) and associated networks remained the greatest terrorist threat to the United States and its partners in 2007. It has reconstituted some of its pre-9/11 operational capabilities through the exploitation of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), replacement of captured or killed operational lieutenants, and the restoration of some central control by its top leadership, in particular Ayman al-Zawahiri. Although Usama bin Ladin remained the group’s ideological figurehead, Zawahiri has emerged as AQ’s strategic and operational planner." ... "AQ and its affiliates seek to exploit local grievances for their own local and global purposes. They pursue their own goals, often at large personal cost to the local population. These networks are adaptive, quickly evolving new methods in response to countermeasures. AQ utilizes terrorism, as well as subversion, propaganda, and open warfare; it seeks weapons of mass destruction in order to inflict the maximum possible damage on anyone who stands in its way, including other Muslims and/or elders, women, and children." ... "Despite the efforts of both Afghan and Pakistani security forces, instability, coupled with the Islamabad [Pakistan's capital] brokered cease-fire agreement in effect for the first half of 2007 along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier, appeared to have provided AQ leadership greater mobility and ability to conduct training and operational planning, particularly that targeting Western Europe and the United States. Numerous senior AQ operatives have been captured or killed, but AQ leaders continued to plot attacks and to cultivate stronger operational connections that radiated outward from Pakistan to affiliates throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe." -State.gov 

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20080429
• Military - NC - US - Afghanistan - Worldwide - "Army widens probe after finding bad conditions at Fort Bragg." ... "Army officials said Tuesday they are inspecting every barracks building worldwide to see whether plumbing and other problems revealed at Fort Bragg, N.C. [North Carolina], last week are widespread." ... "[Brigadier General] Brig. Gen. Dennis Rogers, who is responsible for maintaining barracks throughout the Army, told reporters at the Pentagon that most inspections were done last weekend but he had not seen final results." ... "Rogers said it was too soon to know whether the Fort Bragg problem was an isolated incident. He acknowledged the revelations from a video shot by the father of an 82nd Airborne Division soldier showing poor conditions such as mold inside the barracks, peeling interior paint and a bathroom drain plugged with sewage." ... "The soldier's father, Ed Frawley, said he was disgusted by the conditions that greeted his son and the rest of his 82nd Airborne unit that returned on April 7-8 after a 15-month tour of duty in Afghanistan." -By Robert Burns -AP via -SeattleTimes

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20080422
• KBR - Accounting - Politics - Government - Investigation - US - Military - Housing - Iraq - Afghanistan - World - "Ex-KBR Workers to Testify on Contract Fraud." ... "Two former KBR employees, Frank Cassaday and Linda Warren, are slated to testify before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee next Monday, according to the panel." ... "The two reportedly sued their former employer on behalf of the U.S. [United States] government, claiming KBR fraudulently boosted the number of soldiers using KBR-managed recreation facilities in an effort to inflate the fees it was paid." ... "Under a massive new Army logistics contract, KBR will be one of three firms to compete for as much as $150 billion in contracts to provide housing, laundry and other basic services in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world, the Army announced April 17." -ABCNEWS.com 

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20080418
• John McCain - DEBT - Accounting - Politics - Government - Military - US - Iraq - Afghanistan - 2008 Election - "McCain's $3.3 Trillion Tax Cut, Budget Pledge at Odds (Update3)." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's plan to cut taxes and balance the budget wins praise from fellow Republicans. Economists and nonpartisan analysts say his numbers don't add up." ... "McCain's proposal, outlined April 15, would extend [Republican] President George W. Bush's tax cuts, reduce the top corporate rate, repeal the alternative minimum tax and double exemptions for dependents. Price: $3.3 trillion by the end of a President McCain's second term in 2017, according to figures from his campaign and the Treasury." ... "Robert Bixby, executive director of the Washington-based Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan group that advocates budget restraint, said ``the huge imbalance'' in McCain's plan ``is that the tax cuts are specific and large and the spending cuts are small and vague.''" ... "Once, McCain was a deficit hawk, Bixby said, but ``strange things happen when people run for president.''" ... "McCain's spending cuts, combined with increased revenue from economic growth, total $1.5 trillion over eight years, leaving a $1.8 trillion net increase to the national debt." ... "Two Washington research groups said McCain's plan would cost more. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimated his tax cuts would total $5 trillion over a two-term presidency. The Tax Policy Center , run jointly by the Brookings Institution and Urban Institute, said they would cost at least $5.7 trillion." ... "McCain's plan doesn't address the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which now total more than $12 billion a month. [$144 billion per year over eight years is potentially $1.152 trillion of additional US debt.]" -By Ryan J. Donmoyer and Indira Lakshmanan -Bloomberg

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  [TaxPolicyCenter.org "Scoring McCain’s Tax Proposals." ... "Even with the loophole closers, these proposals [made by 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] would reduce federal revenues by about $5.7 trillion over ten years if they could be enacted immediately." ... "Adding the cost of the corporate tax cuts, the total comes to $8 trillion over 10 years ($7.6 trillion starting in FY10). That scenario would reduce federal tax revenues by $780 billion in FY2012—$140 billion more than the entire defense budget in that year." ... "Cuts the size of those he [McCain] proposes will require slashing discretionary spending and entitlements, and probably even reining in defense spending. Small wonder he has backed away from his earlier pledge to balance the budget—meaning that these tax cuts, like the ones signed by President Bush, will be paid for by our children." [Accounting calculations detailed in:]  "Elements of Senator John McCain's Proposed Tax Plans, Impact on Tax Revenue, 2009-18." (.XLS File) -By Len Burman and Greg Leiserson -TaxPolicyCenter.org]

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