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Sam Sacks - page 48

Sam Sacks has 859 articles published.

Trade Rep Asks for Secret Advice on Toxic Nat Sec Imports

The economic effects of a free trade deal being negotiated by the administration will remain secret for a decade because of national security implications, according to claims made by the nation’s trade czar. Trade Representative Michael Froman said the US International Trade Commission (ITC) analysis he recently requested on plans to lift tariffs on over 400 environmentally damaging products should remain classified for a decade. Froman’s request for a study on the unstable commodities, which include toxic insecticides and nuclear reactor parts, was revealed by… Keep Reading

AFRICOM Brigades Report Vague Missions, Equipment Problems

The US military’s expanding presence in Africa is causing the armed services major growing pains that often leave soldiers on the ground in the lurch, according to the findings of a Government Accountability Office investigation. Brigades operating under the US military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) informed GAO of equipment shortages and incomplete information about mission objectives. In some cases, soldiers were even lacking the necessary paperwork to enter the host nation. In the report, which was released Wednesday, GAO noted that problems mount even before troops… Keep Reading

Pentagon Watchdog Investigating Allegations That ISIL Intelligence Assessments Were Manipulated

A concerned Department of Defense employee has prompted an internal investigation into whether the Pentagon was altering intelligence assessments on the impact of the US military’s bombing campaign against the Islamic State (ISIL). The civilian Defense Intelligence Agency employee alleged that officials at US Central Command fudged the conclusions of an intelligence report examining the effectiveness of the operations, according to the New York Times. The charges initiated a Department of Defense Inspector General investigation. The types of intelligence believed to have been distorted includes… Keep Reading

Pentagon Tries To Shoot Down Reports Turkey Is Sabotaging Syria Training Program

A Defense Department spokesperson dismissed a bombshell report alleging that Turkish intelligence was behind the kidnapping of US-trained fighters in Syria, but offered no evidence to refute the claims. Turkey, a NATO member and part of the anti-Islamic State coalition, is believed have double-crossed the Pentagon, according to a McClatchy news report published this week. The article said Ankara’s spies helped an al Qaeda-linked group ambush a group of 54 US-backed rebels fighting in the ongoing Syrian Civil War. Numerous rebel sources told the newspaper… Keep Reading

USAID Takes Second Crack At Finding “Lost” Afghan Clinics, Fails Again

After a government watchdog discovered that location data for hundreds of US-funded clinics in Afghanistan were significantly flawed, the agency in charge of overseeing that initiative followed up with new coordinates, which also proved to play host to no healthcare facilities. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said that the US Agency for International Development provided faulty information for the second time in months, noting that over 100 of the updated locations it listed didn’t have “any new coordinates.” SIGAR John Sopko also remarked… Keep Reading

U.S. Spies Now Have “Duty to Warn,” Unlike During 2011 Occupy Plot

When members of the intelligence community learn that an individual’s life may be in danger, they now have an obligation to warn that person, according to a new directive issued by the nation’s spy chief. The Director of National Intelligence James Clapper issued the “Duty to Warn” rule in July, requiring agencies to inform both US citizens and non-citizens of any threats of “intentional killing, serious bodily injury, and kidnapping.” This includes threats where the target is an individual, a group, or an “institution, place… Keep Reading

Defense Secretary Confirms: Hunt Is On For New Gitmo In US

Pentagon chief Ashton Carter told reporters Thursday that as long as Guantanamo Bay is open, it will be “a rallying call for jihadi propaganda,” and admitted to dispatching teams across the country to scout locations for a substitute “War on Terror” prison. The remarks confirm reporting over the last week, which said that department staffers were reviewing military facilities in Hanahan, S.C., and Ft. Leavenworth, Kan. as potential alternatives. “This does not mean that either of these sites will be chosen,” Carter cautioned, noting that… Keep Reading

Most Companies Unaware If Conflict Minerals Are Sourced From Warlords

A bid by the US government to root conflict minerals out of consumer goods has fallen short, with most companies admitting that they have no clue about source origins, according to a federal watchdog report. The Government Accountability Office reviewed new disclosures from companies having to file, for the first time ever, information about where they derive tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold—minerals known to originate from conflict-ridden zones in war-torn countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Based on a review sample of the… Keep Reading

Tens Of Thousands Pledge Support To Whistleblower Chelsea Manning As She Faces Possible Indefinite Solitary Confinement

A coalition of progressive organizations took to Capitol Hill on Tuesday with a petition calling on the US military to drop new charges it is filing against Chelsea Manning. The private first class turned Wikileaks source is facing a hearing that same day at the military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after she was discovered to be in possession of out-of-date toothpaste and reading material—transgressions that the military could use to place her into solitary confinement indefinitely. The petition, which was initiated by the group… Keep Reading

Another Gulf Oil Spill Averted? Rig Worker Caught Falsifying Safety Data

An investigation by the Department of the Interior uncovered serious safety oversight lapses aboard a drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2012, Sean Granger, an employee of Pioneer Energy Services, Inc., was found by the department to have illegally manipulated readings on the rig’s blowout gauge in order to “compensate for poorly functioning testing equipment.” The sleight of hand, interior said, made it it impossible for inspectors to determine if the device was working properly. The discrepancies were discovered during a “routine inspection” by the department’s Bureau… Keep Reading

Report: Ubiquity of Primitive Drones Would Cause FAA Problems

The Federal Aviation Administration is on pace to allow more drones to fly through the nation’s airspace in 2015 than in any other year, but still is struggling to cope with the normalization of the relatively new technology, the Government Accountability Office warned. In a report published on Monday, the GAO lauded the agency, claiming that it “has progressed toward its goal of seamlessly integrating unmanned aerial system (UAS) flights into the national airspace.” The oversight body, however, went on to say that the US,… Keep Reading

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