AP Exclusive: 20,000 foreign fighters flock to Syria, Iraq - Yahoo News

 

Foreign fighters are streaming into Syria and Iraq in unprecedented numbers to join the Islamic State or other extremist groups, including at least 3,400 from Western nations among 20,000 from around the world, U.S. intelligence officials say in an updated estimate of a top terrorism concern.

 

Intelligence agencies now believe that as many as 150 Americans have tried and some have succeeded in reaching in the Syrian war zone, officials told the House Homeland Security Committee in testimony prepared for delivery on Wednesday. Some of those Americans were arrested en route, some died in the area and a small number are still fighting with extremists.

The testimony and other data were obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

Nick Rasmussen, chief of the National Counterterrorism Center, said the rate of foreign fighter travel to Syria is without precedent, far exceeding the rate of foreigners who went to wage jihad in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen or Somalia at any other point in the past 20 years.

U.S. officials fear that some of the foreign fighters, who come from 90 countries, will return undetected to their homes in Europe or the U.S. to mount terrorist attacks. At least one of the men responsible for the attack on a satirical magazine in Paris had spent time with Islamic extremists in Yemen.

Meanwhile, the White House circulated a proposal Tuesday that would have Congress authorize the U.S. military to fight Islamic State terrorists over the next three years. A formal request for legislation is expected on Wednesday

Read the whole story by clicking on the following:  AP Exclusive: 20,000 foreign fighters flock to Syria, Iraq - Yahoo News

FBI recommends charges against ex-CIA chief Petraeus: NY Times - Yahoo News

 

The FBI and US Justice Department prosecutors have recommended bringing felony charges against retired General David Petraeus for allegedly providing classified information to his former mistress while he was director of the CIA, The New York Times reported.

The investigation stems from an affair Petraeus -- who was also commander of American forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan -- had with an Army Reserve officer who was writing his biography, the newspaper said, citing unnamed officials.

The probe focuses on whether Petraeus, who resigned in 2012 when the affair became public, gave Paula Broadwell access to his CIA email account and other highly classified information.

FBI agents discovered classified documents on her computer after he quit, according to the Times, which said that Attorney General Eric Holder must decide whether to seek an indictment that could send Petraeus to prison.

Holder was expected to decide by the end of last year whether to bring charges against Petraeus, the newspaper said.

Petraeus has said he never provided classified information to Broadwell, who was 20 years his junior and wrote a biography of the general before becoming his lover.

Petraeus is one of the most decorated and respected military officers of his generation.

After the affair came to light, he voiced regret for the "pain" caused by the fling with Broadwell, a counter-terrorism expert and lieutenant-colonel, and pledged to try to "make amends to those I have hurt and let down."

Marc Raimondi, spokesman for the Justice Department, declined to comment on the Times report.

 

FBI recommends charges against ex-CIA chief Petraeus: NY Times - Yahoo News

BCJ: Ad for Servicemen

U.S. To Hand Over Iraq Bases, Equipment Worth Billions

Flag: 2008 to present  On 22 January 2008, a new design for the flag was confirmed by Law 9 of 2008. In this current version, the three stars were removed, while the Takbir was retained in its 2004 form. The parliament intended that the new design last for one year, after which a final decision on the flag would be made. However, the flag law was reviewed in parliament on 30 April 2009.  The script  represent the Kurdish people in northern Iraq.

With just over three months until the last U.S. troops are currently due to leave Iraq, the Department of Defense is engaged in a mad dash to give away things that cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars to buy and build.

The giveaways include enormous, elaborate military bases and vast amounts of military equipment that will be turned over to the Iraqis, mostly just to save the expense of bringing it home.

"It's all sunk costs," said retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who oversaw the training of Iraqi soldiers from 2003 to 2004. "It's money that we spent and we're not going to recoup."……….

There were 505 U.S. military bases and outposts in Iraq at the height of operations, said Col. Barry Johnson, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq. Only 39 are still in U.S. hands -- but that includes each of the largest bases, meaning the most significant handovers are yet to come.

Construction costs exceeded $2.4 billion, according to an analysis of Pentagon annual reports by the Congressional Research Service….over 2.4 million pieces of equipment worth a total of at least $250 million -- everything from tanks and trucks to office furniture and latrines -- have been given away to the Iraqi government in the past year

Most of the $2.4 billion was spent building about a dozen huge outposts that, in addition to containing air strips and massive fortifications also have all the comforts of home

One U.S. officer whose unit turned over a military outpost in a Baghdad neighborhood to the Iraqi Army in 2009 told the Washington Post that Iraqi soldiers looted it within hours of the U.S. departure….

Much of the U.S.'s most lethal and valuable military equipment is being shipped out of Iraq, in one of the military's biggest logistical efforts in history. Johnson, the spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, said that 1.5 million items have been removed in the past 12 months, with about 800,000 to go.

Read the rest of the article by going to:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/26/iraq-withdrawal-us-bases-equipment_n_975463.html

Drive provides gifts to troops

The gifts will be gathered at Chemtool sites and then taken on a semitruck to Operation Support Our Troops - Illinois in Naperville where they will be shipped out.
Owner Jim Athans spearheaded the partnership and has received support from employees including organizers Bob Shockley, a plant manager for Metalcote Division, and Lindsay DuBois, a sales representative with the Metalcote Division.

Click on the following for more details:  Beloit Daily News - your source for news, entertainment, sports, opinion, events, community, shopping and more > Archives > News > Top News > Drive provides gifts to troops

Friday is the deadline to send holiday packages to troops through post office | Daily Chronicle

Friday is the deadline for sending holiday packages to troops stationed overseas using Parcel Post to all Air/Army Post Office or Fleet Post Office ZIP codes.
The Postal Service places APO/FPO mail on special charter flights, commercial airlines and military service aircraft to reach armed services members overseas as quickly as possible.
All military mail, regardless of destination, is sent by domestic mail rate, according to a news release from the Postal Service in northern Illinois.

Friday is the deadline to send holiday packages to troops through post office | Daily Chronicle

Daily Chronicle’s View: War’s result debatable; heroism isn’t | Daily Chronicle

Pundits across the political dial continued to debate the war’s legacy.

There’s no way we can assess, here and now, how successful we were in Iraq

Whatever the legacy of the Iraq War, at least one thing is certain – the men and women of the American military who served there performed heroically.

Click on the following for this editorial:  Our View: War’s result debatable; heroism isn’t | Daily Chronicle

Joint Chiefs of Staff chair gives talk in Chicago

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has asked Chicago's business leaders to take a chance on veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan….the military is placing a renewed focus on the education, health and career needs of the more than 1 million soldiers returning from war zones.

Click on the following for more details:  Daily Herald | Joint Chiefs of Staff chair gives talk in Chicago