Another Deadly Day in Baghdad

Staff / Truthdig Aug 12, 2009 On Tuesday, eight people were killed and many more wounded in a series of blasts in Baghdad's Ameen neighborhood -- just a day after 52 died and 250 were injured in explosions set off by al-Qaida, according to Iraqi officials. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Afghan Civilian Toll Rises

Staff / Truthdig Jul 31, 2009 As President Obama continues to push more U.S. troops into Afghanistan, the U.N. is reporting that civilian casualties in the war-torn country have spiked, increasing almost 25 percent above 2008 figures. In the first six months of this year, 1,013 civilians were killed. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Order to U.S. Troops: No Firefights Near Afghan Villagers

Staff / Truthdig Jun 23, 2009 Gen. Stanley McChrystal is rolling out a new order to U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan with the hope of reducing rampant civilian casualties. If soldiers find themselves in a fight near Afghan homes, they are to "remove themselves from the area" as long as they can do so "safely, without any undue danger to the forces," a military spokesman explained. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Airstrike Rules Broken, Pentagon Finds

Staff / Truthdig Jun 4, 2009 US forces in Afghanistan have developed a reputation for bombing first and asking questions later According to The New York Times, an internal Pentagon investigation confirms that the rules of engagement were not followed properly during airstrikes on May 4, resulting in the deaths of 20 to 140 civilians (depending on whether you take the U or Afghan estimate). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

20,000 Killed While No One Was Watching

Staff / Truthdig May 29, 2009 The London Times reports that the final weeks of fighting in Sri Lanka's civil war claimed more than 20,000 civilian lives, mostly at the hands of government forces A UN official tells the paper the actual figure is "Higher Keep going" The government kept aid workers and reporters away during a three-week bombardment that ultimately ended the 26-year war. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Civilians Pay the Price of War From Above

Robert Fisk / Truthdig May 11, 2009 Of course there will be an inquiry. And in the meantime, we shall be told that all the dead Afghan civilians were being used as "human shields" by the Taliban and we shall say that we "deeply regret" innocent lives that were lost. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Israeli Soldiers Tell of Their Army’s Crimes in Gaza

Staff / Truthdig Mar 20, 2009 Hot on the heels of a damning U report, Israeli soldiers have offered personal accounts of atrocities committed in Gaza, including the murder of unarmed women, children and the elderly As one soldier put it, " the lives of Palestinians, let's say, are much, much less important than the lives of our soldiers". Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Sri Lanka’s Civil War Takes a Toll

Staff / Truthdig Feb 13, 2009 The toll in the recent spate of clashes in the decades-long battle between Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan government has been officially estimated: 40 civilians are being killed every day, with more than 100 wounded, as artillery shells and gun battles between the two sides devastate the Sri Lankan northeast. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Palestinians Push for War Crimes Inquiry

Staff / Truthdig Feb 11, 2009 On the heels of Israel's election and its bloody three-week assault on the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority is pressing the International Criminal Court to investigate the possibility of war crimes committed by Israeli commanders. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Israeli Troops Finally Out?

Staff / Truthdig Jan 21, 2009 About 1,300 Palestinians dead, $2 billion in damage and thousands of devastated families later, Israel claims it has officially pulled its troops from the Gaza Strip after its three-week assault -- with no formal deal between Israel and Hamas and thus no real change in relations between the two sides. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Israel’s Chemical Warfare?

Staff / Truthdig Jan 16, 2009 Following previous accusations by aid agencies, a video has surfaced amid Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip that shows images "consistent with the use of white phosphorus shells" -- i chemical weaponry The Israeli military has denied use of the chemical agent, which can burn skin to the bone. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Fails in Human Rights Role

Staff / Truthdig Jan 14, 2009 It is unsurprising that a group like Human Rights Watch has condemned the Bush government for jettisoning the U.S. role as a defender of global human rights: Numerous examples -- Guantanamo, gay marriage, Iraq, etc. -- accentuate this failure. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )