Posts tagged ‘iraq’
Government Report: Ali v. Rumsfeld: U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Decision
Ali v. Rumsfeld: United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Decision
by Karen LeCraft Henderson
Paperback, 27 pages, 2011, $20.00
ISBN: 1437988091
This legal decision affirms that Donald Rumsfeld has qualified immunity from a suit brought by Abu Ghraib prisoners.
Four Afghan and five Iraqi citizens captured and subsequently held in Afghanistan and Iraq by the U.S. military sued Rumsfeld, former Secretary of Defense, and three Army officers under the 5th and 8th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the Alien Tort Statute, and the 3rd and 4th Geneva Conventions, seeking damages and declaratory relief as the result of their treatment while in U.S. custody.
The district court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss all 6 claims and the plaintiffs appealed the dismissal. This decision sets forth the reasons why the U.S. Court of Appeals affirms the district court’s judgment. A print on demand report.
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New Government Report: Oman
Oman: Reform, Security, and U.S. Policy
by Kenneth Katzman
Paperback, 15 pages, 2011, $15.00
ISBN: 1437987958
Contents: (1) Introduction; (2) Democratization and Human Rights: Election History; Broader Human Rights Issues: Freedom of Expression/Media; Labor Rights; Religious Freedom; Advancement of Women; Trafficking in Persons; 2011 Unrest: Dissatisfaction, but Not Hunger for Major Change; (3) Defense and Security Ties: U.S. Arms Sales and Other Security Assistance to Oman: Arms Purchases by Oman; U.S. Security Aid and Its Uses; Cooperation Against Islamic Militancy; Cooperation on Regional Stability: Iran; Iraq; Arab-Israeli Issues; Yemen; Other Cooperation Council For The Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) Issues: Bahrain; (4) Economic and Trade Issues. Map and tables. This is a print on demand report.
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New Government Report: Iraq’s Debt Relief
Iraq’s Debt Relief: Procedure and Potential Implications for International Debt Relief
by Martin A. Weiss
Paperback, 17 pages, 2008, $15.00
ISBN: 143727246
This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Following the ouster of the Saddam Hussein regime in spring 2003, Iraq’s external debt was $130 billion. Reducing this debt to a sustainable level has been a priority of the U.S. government. Since 2003, debt relief negotiations have led to the cancellation of a significant amount of Iraq’s external debt. Contents of this report: (1) Iraq’s External Debt: Paris Club Debt Claims; Non-Paris Club Debt Claims; Commercial Debt Claims; (2) The Debt Relief Effort: Paris Club Debt Relief; Evian Approach; Iraq’s Paris Club Agree.; Non-Paris Club Debt Relief; Commercial Debt Relief; (3) Potential Policy Precedents for International Debt Relief: Granting a Stay on the Enforcement of Creditor Rights; Flexibility of Paris Club Agree.; Implementing an Odious Debt Strategy. Illustrations.
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New Government Report: Suicide Prevention Among Veterans
Suicide Prevention Among Veterans
by Ramya Sundararaman, Sidath Viranga Panangala and Sarah A. Lister
Paperback, 13 pages, 2009, $10.00
ISBN: 1437939651
Numerous news stories have documented suicides among servicemembers and vets returning from Iraqi and Afghanistan. The VA has carried out a number of suicide prevention initiatives, including: establishing a national suicide prevention hotline for vets, conducting awareness events at VA medical centers, and screening and assessing vets for suicide risk.
Contents of this report: Intro.; Data Systems for Tracking Suicide; Suicide in the U.S. General Pop’n.: Incidence of Suicide; Risk and Protective Factors; Suicide Among Vets: Incidence of Suicide; Risk and Protective Factors; Effects of PTSD, TBI, and Depression on Suicide Risk; VA’s Suicide Prevention Efforts: Mental Health; Strategic Plan; Suicide Awareness; Screening; Suicide Prevention Hotline.
New Government Report: Breaking the Mold: Tanks in the Cities
Breaking the Mold: Tanks in the Cities
by Kendall D. Gott
Paperback, 132 pages, 2006, $25.00
ISBN: 9781437937862
There is an adage that tanks don’t perform well in cities. Gott disproves that notion with a series of five case studies from World War II to the war in Iraq.
These cases demonstrate that tanks must do more than merely “arrive” on the battlefield to be successful in urban combat. From Aachen in 1944 to Fallujah in 2004, the absolute need for specialized training and the use of combined arms at the lowest tactical levels are two salient lessons.
Gott provides an up-to-date analysis of the utility of tanks and heavy armored forces in urban combat. The U.S. Army will increasingly conduct combat operations in urban terrain, and it will therefore be necessary to understand what it takes to employ tanks to achieve success in that battlefield. Illustrations.
New Government Report: Saudi Arabia: Background and U.S. Relations
Saudi Arabia: Background and U.S. Relations
by Christopher M. Blanchard
Paperback, 51 pages, 2009, $30.00
ISBN: 1437928382
Contents: (I) Recent Developments; (II) Background: Saudi Arabia’s Political Development; Saudi-U.S. Relations, 1931-2001; September 11, 2001, and its Aftermath; The 9/11 Commission Report; Saudi Responses; Recent Assessments; Terrorist Financing Concerns; Toward a New Relationship?; New Bilateral Agreements;
(III) Recent Congressional Interest in Saudi Arabia: U.S. Foreign Assistance to Saudi Arabia and Congressional Prohibitions; International Military Education and Training (IMET); Counterterrorism Assistance; Prohibitions on Foreign Assistance; FY2010 Appropriations Debate; U.S. Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia; Background; Criticism and Action in the 110th Congress; BAE Corruption Inquiry;
(IV) Current Issues in U.S.-Saudi Relations; U.S.-Saudi Military Cooperation: U.S. Military Training Mission in Saudi Arabia (USMTM); Saudi Arabian National Guard Modernization Program (PM-SANG); Office of Program Mgt. Ministry of Interior – Facilities Security Forces (OPM MOI-FSF); Counterterrorism; Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula; Combating Extremism; The Arab-Israeli Conflict; Saudi-Palestinian Relations; Saudi Peace Proposals; Iraq;Saudi Policy Priorities in Iraq; Saudi-Iraqi Diplomatic and Economic Relations; Economic Relations and Trade; U.S.-Saudi Trade; U.S. Oil Imports and Saudi Policy; U.S.-Saudi Foreign Direct Investment; Saudi Boycott of Israel and WTO Membership; Human Rights, Religious Freedom, and Political Reform; Political Reform Debates and Elections; Leadership and Succession; Social Reform Debates and Recent Leadership Changes; Human Rights; Religious Freedom; Consular Issues;
(V) Further Reading and Historical Resources; Appendix A. Recent Proposed Arms Sales; Appendix B. Text of Saudi Peace Initiatives. Figures.
New Government Report: United States of America v. Paul A. Slough et al, Defendants: Ruling on the Case against Former Blackwater Security Guards
United States of America v. Paul A. Slough et al, Defendants: Ruling on the Case against Former Blackwater Security Guards
by Ricardo M. Urbina
Paperback, 90 pages, 2009, ISBN: 1437927750, $30.00
The sudden blow to the case against the former Blackwater security guards over a shooting that killed 17 Iraqis and wounded at least 20 may have come as a surprise to the public in Iraq and the United States, but the legal problem that the judge cited Thursday when he threw out the indictments was obvious to American government lawyers within days of the shooting, reports the New York Times.
This government report contains the ruling by Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of Federal District court in Washington, DC, on the case against former Blackwater security guards in Iraq over a shooting that killed 17 Iraqis and wounded at least 20.
Judge Ricardo threw out the indictments against the guards. In his opinion: “The defendants have been charged with voluntary manslaughter and firearms violations arising out of a shooting that occurred in Baghdad, Iraq on Sept. 16, 2007.
“They contend that in the course of this prosecution, the government violated their constitutional rights by utilizing statements they made to Deptartment of State investigators, which were compelled under a threat of job loss.
“The government has acknowledged that many of these statements qualify as compelled statements under Garrity v. New Jersey, 385 U.S. 493 (1967), which held that the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination bars the government from using statements compelled under a threat of job loss in a subsequent criminal prosecution.
“The Fifth Amendment automatically confers use and derivative use immunity on statements compelled under Garrity; this means that in seeking an indictment from a grand jury or a conviction at trial, the government is prohibited from using such compelled statements or any evidence obtained as a result of those statements.
“The government has also acknowledged that its investigators, prosecutors and key witnesses were exposed to (and, indeed, aggressively sought out) many of the statements given by the defendants to State Deptartment investigators.
“Under the binding precedent of the Supreme Court, the burden fell to the government to prove that it made no use whatsoever of these immunized statements or that any such use was harmless beyond any reasonable doubt.
“In short, the government has utterly failed to prove that it made no impermissible use of the defendants’ statements or that such use was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, the court must dismiss the indictment against all of the defendants.”
New Government Report: Troop Levels in the Afghan and Iraq Wars, FY 2001-FY 2012: Cost and Other Potential Issues
Troop Levels in the Afghan and Iraq Wars, FY 2001-FY 2012: Cost and Other Potential Issues (ISBN: 1437919456)
By Amy Belasco (Paperback, 67 pages, 2009, $25.00)
In Feb. and March 2009, the Obama Administration announced its plans to increase troop levels in Afghanistan and decrease troop levels in Iraq. In Afghanistan, 30,000 more troops are deploying this year while in Iraq, troops will gradually decline to 35,000 to 50,000 by Aug. 31, 2011 with all troops to be out of Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011.
The most commonly cited measure of troop strength is “Boots on the Ground” or the number of troops located in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Based on aveerage monthly Boots on the Ground figures, the number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq increased from 5,200 in FY2002 to a peak of 187,900 in FY2008 primarily because of increases in Iraq beginning with the invasion in March 2003.
In FY2009, total troop strength is expected to remain the same as planned increases in Afghanistan offset declines in Iraq. By FY2012, overall troop strength for the two wars is likely to decline to 67,500 when the withdrawal from Iraq is expected to be complete.
Contents of this Congressional Research Service (CRS) report: (I) Introduction: Obama Admin. Plans for Afghanistan and Iraq; (II) Wide Range in Deployed Troop Strengths in DOD Sources; (III) In-Country Troop Strength: FY2002-FY2012; (IV) Cost Implications of Changes in Troop Strength: FY2009-FY2012; (V) Ways to Measure Troop Levels for the Afghan and Iraq Wars; (VI) Trends in Troop Levels From FY2002-FY2008 Using Five Alternative Sources; (VII) Service Roles and Readiness Concerns. Figures and tables.
New Government Report: Bahrain: Reform, Security, and U.S. Policy (ISBN: 9781437934113)
Bahrain: Reform, Security, and U.S. Policy (ISBN: 9781437934113)
By Kenneth Katzman (Paperback, 12 pages, 2010, $10)
After instability during the late 1990s, Bahrain undertook political reforms that include the Shiite majority in governance. However, unrest among Bahraini Shiites continues to simmer over the government’s perceived manipulation of citizenship and election laws and regulations to maintain its grip on power. These tensions are increasing in the run up to the next elections in November 2010.
Contents of this report: (1) Recent Elections: 2006 Assembly Elections; The 2010 Nat. Assembly Election; Human Rights Issues: U.S. Efforts to Promote Political Reform; (2) U.S. Arms Transfers: Purchases With National Funds; Other Anti-Terrorism Cooperation.; Econ. Relations with U.S.; (3) Bahrain-Iran Gas Deal; Iraq; Qatar Territorial Disputes; Arab-Israeli Issues.
New Government Report: War Powers Resolution: After 36 Years (ISBN: 9781437932932)
War Powers Resolution: After 36 Years (ISBN: 9781437932932)
By Richard F. Grimmett (Paperback, 77 pages, 2010, $25)
On April 30, 2010, Vietnam and the United States held different ceremonies marking the same milestone – the end of the Vietnam War, according to Suite101:
American foreign policy drastically changed because of the Vietnam War. Democrats and Republicans were no longer unified in supporting American foreign policy. In 1973 the Democratic majority in Congress passed the 1973 War Powers Resolution that prohibited the president from sending United States troops into combat for over 90 days before congressional consent.
This report discusses and assesses the War Powers Resolution (WPR) and its application. Contents: (1) Intro.; (2) Provisions of the WPR; (3) Constitutional Questions Raised: War Powers of Pres. and Congress; Legislative Veto; Auto. Withdrawal Provision; (4) Major Cases and Issues Prior to the Persian Gulf War: Vietnam and Mayaguez: Iran Hostage Rescue Attempt; El Salvador; Hondura; Lebanon; Grenada; Libya; Persian Gulf, 1987; Invasion of Panama; (5) Major Cases and Issues in the Post-Cold War World: U.N. Actions: Persian Gulf War, 1991; Iraq-Post Gulf War; Somalia; Former Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Kosovo; Haiti; Terrorist Attacks against the U.S., 2001: How Does the WPR Apply?; Use of Force Against Iraq Resolution 2002; (6) Proposed Amend.
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